Hell Hath No Snark
by You can call me Randy
Summary: An introverted, snarky teenager meets a few emotionally challenged demons and the other snarky teenager. May Gaia and Syndel have mercy on us all. (OC)
1. Obligatory Prologue

**A/N:So, this is happening. To be honest, I never really thought that I would see myself typing this out and actually posting something here on FFN. But enough about me, let's get to the real reason why you're here: this story. Now I haven't _always_ been a fan of comics, seeing how most people are raised reading comics, and I never really got hooked.**

 **Then one day, a friend of mine recommended web comics about four years ago, and lo and behold, I got addicted to them. Especially ' _Slightly Damned'_ , Chu got me addicted with the inner emo in all of us with the title, then made it run away in fear with the hilariousness it held in it's adventures. **

**I guess with the meager amount that web-comics get in terms of stories on this site, I would contribute to it (not saying there aren't any good ones, just that there isn't many in the first place). And seeing that this here is my first story, I guess I'll ask you, readers, to not be gentle in your criticism. As a matter of fact, do not hold back in your reviews. I rather earn those follows after much criticism than write badly.**

 **So, with that out of the way, the Prologue. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: _Seeing as how I call myself Randy and not Chu, am not a female, and I cannot make art to save a life, that eliminates three possibilities for me to be the creator of '_ Slightly Damned' _. Therefore, I do not own any properties other than the situation and characters that makes this AU. Probably._**

* * *

I was an odd kid, now that I think about it.

I was raised by my Ma, with my father dying from an accident at work when I was around eight months old. Before that, I was a fairly normal infant: incredibly needy, wailing when something is needed or I felt alone, and so on.

But when my father died, there was a shift in the way things were; in the way I acted.

When I ever ask my Ma if I was ever a handful, she always answers with a smile and a shake of her head. She always said that I was surprisingly easy, compared to what rumors of how children are when being raised. In the back of my mind, I felt like I knew what the reason was as to why I was like that.

It never came to me until much later on.

As I grew up, I was the kid who was never really active in the social department. Teachers who watch their students play with whatever activity they set on them that day would find me never working with a group. Usually they would either put me into an assigned one. Or they would let me be, then I would go home with my mother asking me if I made any friends that day. The answer was no, of course.

I still made good grades, however, so Ma never worried too much.

I made my way through elementary and middle school, without much excitement. Any sort of friendship that was made always started with someone coming to me, and always ended with them drifting away.

I didn't mind.

I went into high school with a slight above-average grade, and my Ma still worried about my lack of a social life.

It was then that I figured myself out; why I always seemed to avoid having friends. I had this strange, ingrained habit to distance myself from people, so that I won't be a burden to others. I have been doing this since I was an infant, with my subconsciousness telling me to stop needing so much. That way, I won't be a burden. Whether it be to my Ma, or to others that tried to be my friend.

I also figured out that acting that way made Ma worry more.

So, I made it my mission, my goal, to get a social life. To stop Ma from worrying.

Problem is: I have no social skills to speak of, and the people around me have stapled me with the label of the quiet kid that has no good reason to be their friend.

Thankfully, high school has some kind of place for everyone, even odd ones like me.

You know how in a school cafeteria, there are usually the cliques occupying certain areas? With the football team usually being together, the people who come from the drama class, and then the normal people? They have one more group that seems to fit me to a tee.

The group of people with their own problems. Small, annoying problems, but still problems. There is a saying that misery loves company, and my social skills _were_ miserable, so I just sat down with the small group. After that, I introduced myself, and jokingly mentioned - _read:_ _tried to joke about_ \- my missing social life.

Predictably, I was seen as weird among other weirdos. But somehow, I just... melded into their group. Not immediately, mind you. It still took a while, but it _did_ happen.

Eventually, I mentioned the group – _an entire group, not just singular_ – to my mother, and she looked at me as if I suddenly grew another head. Then she smiled a crooked smile, the very same one that I have, and said that I did good.

That moment was one of the most relieving ones that I ever had.

And then things went downhill _very_ quickly.

My Ma used to smoke, once upon a time, and quit cold-turkey when she found out that she was pregnant with me. She never returned to it, but she always kept her lighter on her person: a shiny stainless steel flip lighter, with a design of a bird in black. A phoenix, she told me.

Apparently, her earlier years of smoking caught up to her. She was diagnosed with lung cancer.

She was given treatment, and she fought for as long as possible, but couldn't win.

It was on her death bed, in the hospital, when she gave me her lighter, and told me it was for her little light.

It wasn't until a week later when my friends found that I was alone.

One of them managed to convince their parents to take me in, and I both hated that I was becoming a burden and was so, _so_ thankful that I wasn't alone.

It was after I moved on to my Senior year, just out of Junior year, that my friends suggested a camp-out to the local forest/park during our summer break.

It was a nice way of them to show that they cared, and I didn't complain, because it helped fill that part of me that was missing. We didn't check the weather for the few days that we were going to spend there, for we were just energized to get out of the town and just hang out for a while. Just us against the world.

And then the world hit back.

It was on the night of the second day, that it turned out that there was currently a forest fire, and it blocked us in. We woke up to one of us going out to relieve themselves and finding that the world looked like it was on fire. We had no cell reception, so we couldn't call for help.

The third day was spent trying to find a way out, and then realizing that we _had_ no way out. One of us broke down crying when we all came to the same conclusion.

On the fourth day, the fire was _so close_ to us, when a rescue helicopter found us. It was like a scene from a movie, where we get rescued at the last second, and then we all get to live happily ever after.

And then a tree – _a_ _fucking tree_ – fell down on top of me. I somehow managed to survive the impact and stay conscious. My friends all freaked when they saw this, and they tried to get the tree off of me, but it was on fire, and they couldn't risk trying to get it off without catching fire themselves. The friend who took me into their home, Thomas, tried to keep pushing, despite everyone else giving up.

Thomas was the one friend that connected to me the most, and it wasn't long ago that I found out that he lost a little brother. They both locked themselves in an old car, and they weren't found until four hot summer hours later that they were found. His brother had a heat stroke and died while still in the car, and it was a miracle that Thomas survived.

I guess, since he was a year older than me, he didn't want to lose his younger brother figure. He didn't want to lose another little brother.

I managed to muster up the strength to tell him to leave, that I would just be a burden. It wasn't until another minute that he stopped, and _looked_ at me. I cracked a crooked smile, one just like my Ma's, and told him it would be alright.

He broke down right then and there, and one of the others took him and guided him back to the helicopter.

I passed out as the helicopter was lifting off, surrounded by fire, alone, without burdening anyone and getting themselves killed for me.

I thought it would be the end.

No more being a burden.

I didn't expect to be _deus ex machina'd_ into a _white void_.

Everywhere I look, it's nothing but white, white, and _oh look_ , more white!

I showed up here not too long ago, and so far the only thing occupying the space was myself, still in my gray shirt and brown cargo shorts. At first, I had a bit of mindless fun with the actual weightlessness that is in the void, but that got nauseating after a while.

How the hell am I getting nauseated, anyways? Aren't I supposed to be dead? Do dead people still get motion sickness in the afterlife?

I cross my arms as I complete another revolution.

…

I get the feeling that someone was supposed to be here by now.

"HEY! Whoever you are that sent me here, you forgot something!" My voice doesn't even echo in the space, just ending whenever I stopped shouting.

I wait a second, then the second turned to ten, then a minute.

"Whatever, it's not like someone of cosmic proportions can be late, anyways." I grumble, doing another slow somersault in the blankness.

...Now that I look around, this place seems awfully familiar. Like I've seen someone in the same position as mine. But no matter how hard I think about it, it seems like the answer escapes me.

Meh, this being alone thing is not exactly healthy, seeing that I'm being snarky at _literally nothing_. I just wish that something would just happen alrea-

" **Ah, there you are, Micheal. And I see you are already awake, too,** " an ominous, dark voice says from behind me.

"FINALLY!" I throw my hands up in the air, rotating around slowly in the nothingness to face the speaker. "Don't you know how long I... was..."

... _what_.

In front of me, towering over me by many times my height, is Death.

But not just any Death. I know this one.

Clad in a tattered black cloak, with skeletal hands and a flaming dragon-like skull, is _that_ Death.

The Death from the web-comic _Slightly Damned_.

 _ **What?**_

"... _waiting_?" I finished weakly.

Death is now glaring his one eye at me.

...That's not good.

* * *

 **A/N: So here is the prologue to 'Hell Hath No Snark'. Hope you guys like it, and can't wait for the next one. I would probably not have some kind of upload schedule, seeing how this is just a hobby of mine. Maybe. Depends on whether or not I can continue with this story. Anyways, reviews would always be nice, and have a good rest of your morning/noon/evening/night.**


	2. Welcome to Limbo

**A/N: So. This is happening. Again.**

 **I put up a different version of the prologue and first chapter a few weeks ago, and _dear lord_ , it was... edgy. And badly make. So I took the whole thing, stripped it down, and started from scratch. The entire prologue is different, and I plan on this chapter being a _whole_ lot different than how the old version went. Plus, hopefully less cringe in this than the last one. **

**Anyways, here is a rewritten, hopefully better, first chapter.**

 **_Disclaimer: I do not own Slightly Damned. The one and true owner of this work of art is Chu. Unless she puts it in her dying will the ownership of said comic. Even then, she doesn't know me, so I still won't own it._**

* * *

Death glares at me with one narrowed, flaming eye.

I stare back with a nervous, crooked smile slapped on my face.

I just _had_ mouth off the guy who _literally controls your soul_. Way to go, me.

"Um, sorry about that? I kinda started flipping out when nobody showed up after a few minutes and I might've started going super snarky for no good reason and _please don't send me to the void_."

Death narrows his eye even more at me and _wow he's intimidating, his face is literally on fire_ -

" **I will forgive you, Micheal. Make sure this does not become a repeat incident.** " Death waves his _massive_ skeletal hand at me.

Ho boy, that was terrifying to deal with. Imagine if I got on the bad side of Death himself...

"Wait, how do you know my name?" I cocked my head to the side, now facing him upside down.

How does a death god – pseudo death god, my mind supplies _oh so helpfully_ – from _another universe_ know my name? Please don't tell me there is some kind of convoluted thing going on with the afterlife where I got transferred to another universe's afterlife, like some kind of foreign exchange student.

" **I am Death, it is my duty to know all souls that pass through Judgment.** " Death answers not-so-helpfully.

Oh, so that's why this place looks familiar. Judgment.

 _Oh no._

"Oh. I'm dead. I forgot that part."

Death tilts his head and narrows his eye in what _might_ be intrigue.

" **One usually does not forget that they die when they reach the afterlife.** " He shakes his head slightly, as if he can't believe what he had heard.

I kept my mouth from spouting another snarky remark – _wow, I'm on a roll today_ – and instead gesture my hand at Death.

"So... what now?"

At my question, he pulls out a well worn book – _where does he keep that thing?_ \- and opens it up. He flips through a couple of pages, muttering under his breath as he goes through each.

" **Aha! Here you are: Micheal Asche, correct?** " Death looks from the book to me.

"Um, yeah? What's that book for?" It's been a while since I've seen the earlier pages of _Slightly Damned_ , and the name escapes me.

" **This is the Book of Records. It keeps tabs on all souls in Meidus.** " Death informs me, again.

Now _my name_ is in a book on all the souls of a _different universe_? Okay, I might believe falling through the cosmic cogs of the afterlife and appearing here, somehow, but _this_? Someone must've put me here on purpose, and knowing that freaking _angels_ and _demons_ exist because of a few gods, one of those three have to be responsible.

" **Hm, interesting.** " Death tilts his head in curiosity.

"What's 'interesting'? Is something wrong?" Death saying 'interesting' could range from 'odd' to 'abomination from the nether realms', and his expression is non-existent from my perspective.

" **You are the second 'undetermined' that I have had this week. I have to judge you manually. It is not often that I get to do this, you know?** " Death eye turns into a chevron, somehow, and has an unnerving amount of cheer in his voice.

Yeesh, if it wasn't for me knowing what's gonna happen next, it would be terrifying to witness Death be this cheery, angel in disguise or no.

Death puts away the Book of Records – _no seriously, where does he keep it?_ \- and holds out one bony hand. A fire erupts from his palm, and a golden scale appears from the flame. He gives it a tap with his other hand, and two different color flames rise from both ends; one a sinful black, the other a pure white. I see the black flame weighting down more than the white one.

That's not good.

" **I am sorry to say this, Micheal, but it appears that while you have plenty of good deeds in your life, both your inaction, and your distance from religion, outweighs the good. Therefore, neither Heaven, nor Purgatory, have a place for you.** "

 _That's not good._

" **However,** " I latch onto his words like a lifeline. After-lifeline. Whatever. " **Hell does not have a place for you, either.** " Death summons another plume of flame to put away the scale.

...Oh. That's different.

 _Wait..._ That put's me in...

" **Therefore, Micheal, I commend you to an eternity in the Ring of the Slightly Damned.** " Death finishes for me.

Okay, this went from bad to worse _really fast_. How the hell am I gonna survive the plot when I'm _literally_ in the middle of it.

I shake my head from those thoughts. I'll deal with the plot later, first I have to deal with my afterlife accommodations.

" **Come, Micheal. We are running late, so best to not waste time.** " Death waves for me to follow.

My feet meet a ground that I cannot see, and I stumble for a second before, shakily, following a shorter Death.

"Although I'm already late, I still think it was you who was late to get to me." I grin slightly at the pun.

I bump into Death's back as he suddenly stops, the grin falling off my face. He slowly turns around and glares at me.

" **...You really deserve Hell for that horrible pun.** " He sighs and continues walking.

I look to the ground and notice the grounds looking like we have walked into a mesa. I didn't even notice the change in scenery! We can't have walked that far. I look back up to see a ghastly green river with Death standing next to a small boat.

" **This is the River of Lost Souls. Also know as the Styx. Hell is just on the other side.** " Death steps into the boat and turns to look at me. " **In order to cross, you must pay a toll of one coin, of any value.** "

Oh shit, I forgot about that part. I check my back pocket to pull out my wallet. I probably have a quarter in there some...

 _Oh no._

I didn't bring my wallet onto the camping trip.

 _I have no money._

 ** _I have no way across the Styx._**

I check my other pockets, and I come up empty. All except for...

I pull out Ma's lighter, the stainless steel still shining, the phoenix still in it's perpetual flight.

I look up back to Death, and see he is also looking at the lighter. I take another look at the lighter and squeeze my hand around it.

" **Might I ask what that is?** " Death's voice jumps me out of my reverie. I look back up to him, my hand lightening it's grip on Ma's lighter.

"It's my Ma's lighter. She gave it to me before she died a year ago. It's the last thing I have to remember her." I twist the lighter over in my hand, observing every small detail and imperfection.

An idea enters my mind.

 _Sorry, Ma. I hope you'll understand._

I hand the lighter to Death. "Will this get me across?"

Death seems to recoil slightly at my question, but quickly recovers and takes another look at the lighter. His skeletal hand slowly comes over to pluck the lighter from mine, turning it over between his claws to inspect it.

" **Hm... yes. This will get you across the Styx. Climb aboard.** " Death steps back to the front of the boat and picks up a paddle.

I step onto the fancy dingy and take a seat. Death uses the paddle to push off the shore and into the Styx, rowing to a rhythm only he can hear.

After a few minutes of silence, I speak up.

"May I ask you a favor, Death?"

" **Asking a favor of Death himself, are we?** " His tone is teasing, but it has an edge of seriousness to it.

"Can you make sure not to lose that lighter? It means a lot to me."

The boat falls into a silence, the only sound being the rowing of the paddle against the Styx. After another long minute, Death speaks up in a unusually soft tone.

" **I will, Micheal. You have my word.** " He glances back and shoots a wink – blink?

Relief washes over me, and I grin a small, crooked smile. I get as comfortable as I can in the boat and shut my eyes, waiting for the ride across the ghastly river to finish.

* * *

Much later, I feel the boat hit something solid, and I open up my eyes and stretch a bit from staying in one spot for so long.

" **We have arrived to the Ring of the Slightly Damned, Micheal.** " Death announces.

I stand up and exit the boat after Death. As I take in my surroundings, I see a lot of... rocks. Lots and lots of _rocks_.

"I think a better name for this place would be Limbo." I offhandedly comment to Death. He tilts his head in thought before shrugging and making a noncommittal noise. He clears his throat to get my attention.

" **In order to move about in Hell, you must have a demon supervisor with you at all times. However, your appearance _was_ sudden, so I have to bring you to your supervisor personally.**"

Huh. I wonder if he's just gonna put me on Buwaro, along with Rhea. I freeze for a moment when I finish that thought.

 _I am going to meet the protagonists of the comics_ ** _holy shit._**

I force myself to relax and wave my hand for Death to continue.

" **I believe we can take a shortcut to your future supervisor's place, if you come with me.** " Death waves his hand to follow and takes me to an outcropping of rocks that form an arch. Death stands next to the shadow the formation casts.

" **Stand next to me, hurry up.** " I tilt my head and stand next to him.

He puts his hand onto my shoulder. " **Now close your eyes, it tends to be slightly nauseating the first time.** "

I shut my eyes, the only thing going through my mind is 'what's nauseating the first time?' Death takes a step forward, his hand urging me forward into-

- _a feeling that's weightless and entirely_ ** _wrong_** -

-into normalcy, Death's hand keeping me from stumbling.

My eyes fly open and we're standing _somewhere else_.

I turn about to see jagged rocks all around me, jutting up in odd angles and in different sizes. And next to us is a _huge_ pillar or rock, going straight up until my head seems to be looking straight up.

The pillar seems familiar, in a way. A way that makes me feel a sense of uneasine-

 _Sakido._

I suddenly remember the winged demon, her harshness towards her brother, her odd hobby of poetry, her _sacrifice to let Rhea and Buwaro out of Hell_ -

A pain in my chest grows, and I start to feel _very_ uneasy about the situation.

 _Wait._

"Is my supervisor _up there_?" I wave my hand in the direction of the top of the massive structure of stone.

" **Indeed they are, Micheal. Better get started on climbing, then.** " At this, Death starts to put a hand on a jutting piece and start making his way up.

I sighed.

"This is gonna be a pain." I grumble to myself as I start my way up.

* * *

 _Just... one... more... to go..._

My hand shakily reaches for the ledge of the top of the pillar, and I grip it with all my might. I find whatever strength is left in me to hoist myself up and onto the ledge, rolling away from the edge of the pillar.

"Ha... suck it, gravity. _Hooo..._ " I gasp for as much air as possible.

Despite being dead, I still feel like I'm dealing with very _lively_ problems, like being tired. I glare at the offending ledge, hoping it will burn for the pain it made me go through.

Predictably, nothing happens.

" **Ah, so now you grace us with your presence, Micheal. Now that you are here, I would like for you to meet your demon supervisor-** " Death doesn't even finish before I bolt to my feet and jab a finger at his face.

"LISTEN, DEATH! I have never climbed up a straight cliff face before, so _excuse me_ for being so goddamned slow with something I _never done before!_ " I shout before I put my hands on my knees, out of breath again.

I hear Death chuckle – _that fucking bastard chuckled_ – before he pats my shoulder.

" **I kid, Micheal. Besides, I have climbed up here before, so I know it gets better with time.** " He gives out another short laugh before he backs up again.

I pick my head up when I finally catch my breath to throw another retort – _death god or no_ – when I notice the _other_ person with us.

 _Sakido._

She's... tall, for one. Like, I'm fairly certain she can make the tallest person I know feel like a midget, and I'm a decent five foot eleven. Extra midget-y, in my case. The second thing I notice is the wings she has. They're as big as she is, and have a feathery look to them.

 _Kinda like an angel's, but black_ ** _._**

I look up to her face and have to recoil slightly at the harsh glare she is giving me. Through the narrowing of her eyes, I can see a dark shade of blue, with slits in the middle.

 _And they're alive, but not for much longer_.

My chest- no, my _back_ is hurting.

Her eyes just narrowed more.

 _Oh shit what did I do this tim_ -

She takes a single stride towards me and she is already looming over me. She leans down a bit to study me more.

"You don't seem to be too dangerous, if a bit loud." She finishes her inspection with a wave of her hands. Claws. Whatever- _wait._

Did she just _dis_ me?

"What do you mean, _too loud._ " I grumble under my breath. It's not like I'm normally this loud, it's just Death seems to just get under my-

A harsh shiver runs up my spine, and a feeling of dread falls over me.

I whip my head up to see Sakido glaring at me with _her eyes glowing_.

I should probably shut up no-

"What?" I bite out.

 _Or not._

Sakido lifts up a clawed hand and _freakin' lightening_ comes out of nowhere above her palm.

I swallow. _Hard._

"Um-" is all I managed to get out before she throws a _fucking ball of electricity_ at me, and I leap out of the way, barely dodging the ball of doom.

I land with a grunt, and I look up to see myself _right next to the edge of the pillar_ ** _holy shit._**

I roll onto my back and crawl backwards away from the edge-

-only for my back to hit something.

 _Two somethings._

I look up to see Sakido's face shadowed, her eyes glowing a bright blue. A contrast from her dark, ocean blue eyes earlier.

Death clears his throat and manages to grab both our attentions.

" **If you two will let me finish,** " he grinds out, " **Sakido, you are the demon supervisor to Micheal, here. He will be staying with you for the foreseeable future.** " Sakido opens her mouth to argue, but Death pull out a glare to shut her up. He turns to me next.

" **Micheal, she is to be with you at all times if you are to go somewhere else. No exceptions.** " He quickly puts in when he saw me about to retort. Death looks back up to Sakido.

" **One last thing, before I say my farewell. Your letter has come, and I didn't plan on delivering it myself, so I had Buwaro and Rhea deliver it for me. Seeing as I am now here, unexpectedly, I see it as an opportunity for Micheal here to see the residents and for you to get your letter. Fare thee well, Sakido, Micheal.** " Death finishes with a sudden cheer in his voice and a wave, wink-blinking at us before simply walking off the ledge.

It was silent for a long while, both of us chastised, like children fighting each other, by Death himself. After a minute, I stop leaning my back against Sakido's legs and stand up, dusting my shorts off.

"Well, Death may be a good person, but he really get under my skin, ya know?" I look to Sakido with one of my staple crooked grins.

Sakido looks to me and tilts her head quizzically. If it wasn't for earlier, I would say it looked adorable. Ya know, for some kind of demon that would probably murder me for existing.

"...You are very strange, mortal." She finally says with a slight narrowing of her eyes.

"And you aren't what I was expecting when the word 'demon' comes to mind, Sakido." There, I tried a normal, civil comment. I think.

We stand there, staring at each other, the silence bordering on awkward.

…

Okay, now it's getting awkward.

I look around the pillar and see what might be a good way to start up _something_.

"...nice bonsai?" I offer after an agonizing silence.

"...thanks?" Oh god, she sounds as awkward as me. I never dealt with people who were more awkward than me, _the hell am I gonna do_?

"So!" I shout with a clap of my hands. "I heard you have a brother, Buwaro? Is he as... interesting as you are?" I gesture with my arms when I failed to come up with a better descriptive term.

"You'll see soon enough," was her answer, before she went to the other side of the pillar and sort of... perched there. Like a cat. Or a bird. _A cat-bird?_

I shake my head and sigh, plopping down on the ground with my legs hanging over the edge and my back on the ground.

"Nice to see some things just don't change." I mumble to myself.

For an impossible afterlife that I thought to be nothing but fiction, it sure isn't as glamorous as advertised. How the hell am I supposed to deal with emotionally damaged demons? _I_ don't know how to person, how can I deal with others?

A thought strikes me.

 _Do I want to change the plot?_

The answer hits me like lightening.

 _Yes._

But why? It's not like I can do much, anyways.

 _Don't be a burden, again._

I ball my hands into fists.

Right, being a burden is the last thing I ever wanted to be. It's the one thing I _hate_.

I crane my head over to Sakido, still perched on the ledge.

And I just became a _burden_ to her, the one who shoulders so much of it in the first place that it _literally kills her_.

My back aches again.

Oh, right. A tree fell on me. A flaming one.

Still mad at that tree for killing me.

Next time I see a flaming tree, I'll show it what happens when you try to put _me_ down-

"AAAHHH! Don'tletgo don'tletgo!"

Oh, looks like Buwaro and Rhea are here.

…

Oh _shit_ , _the fucking protagonists are here_ -

* * *

 **A/N: And here is the first (revised) chapter. A hell of an improvement, if you ask me. And seeing as how I crunched an entire day with nothing to do to get this done well into _the next day_ , this better be good. I hope. I'm tired. ;;**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and that you have a great rest of your morning/noon/evening/night.**


	3. Winged Demons and How to Talk to Them

**A/N: So. I've come back three days later with a longer story than the last. Neat. I think. For this chapter, the interactions between Micheal and everyone else – _although it's mostly Sakido_ – is one where I tried to gauge how people will react with the shit Micheal throws at them. Fun. **

**Anyways, enjoy the second chapter, guys.**

 **Disclaimer: _I don't own shit. Just Micheal and the others from the prologue. Nope. Nadda._**

* * *

Ever since I heard Rhea shout out, I stood away from the ledge, took a deep breath, and tried to observe the situation.

And then failed miserably.

Currently, I'm sitting on the ground in the middle of the pillar, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Since there is nothing I can do to stop meeting the two 'heroes', I might as well get comfortable.

…and panic silently.

' _What am I gonna do what am I gonna do_ ** _whatamIgonnado?_** ' appears to be the only coherent thought going through my mind at the moment. And about a minute ago, I could start to hear them talking on the way up. _Talking_ while climbing this _demonic pillar_ that should be _burning in Hell_ -

Wait, it's already in Hell. Damn.

… still need to set it on fire whenever I can. Somehow. Although Sakido would probably kill me for setting her home on fire-

Sakido walks past me – _holy shit I didn't even hear her_ – and stood waiting in front of me. The voices of the climbing duo are sounding really close now that I'm paying attention.

"Oof. Finally!" A feminine voice huffs out. Sakido is still in front of me, and I still make no move to get up from my spot on the ground.

"Hi, Sakido! We're here to visit you!" A more masculine, but younger voice accompanies the first one.

Sakido reaches down and plucks two figures figures from the ledge and drops them in front of her. Sakido's wings are blocking most of the view of the two, but I can see... yup: clawed purple feet and what looks like a tan tail with a tuft of brown on the end around the edges of the wings.

"Hmph, I thought I heard screams." Sakido deadpans as she puts her arm on the taller figure to keep him from... tackling her? Wait, no, he's trying to hug her.

I'll admit, the thought of hugging Sakido after her attempt to shock me is kinda terrifying. I still can smell the ozone in the air from said attempt.

"Yeah, your beloved brother here let go while climbing, _twice_!" The shorter figure's tail coils and twitches to their words.

By now, Sakido backs up and the two are finally revealed to my view. When she moved, the two whip their heads to look at me, now noticing me sitting on the ground and _are now staring at me whatamIgonnado_ -

"Who's this guy?" The shorter of the two questions. Rhea Snaketail, the jakkai with a mouth, is, for one, _very_ short. She's barely taller than me when I'm sitting down, legs to my chest. And another thing is the fact that I'm looking at someone who is very much _not human_. Her amber eyes are narrowed – _oh look, I'm pissing off more people. Hooray_ – at me, studying me.

I tear my eyes away from Rhea to look at Buwaro and-

 _Holy shit he's right in front of me._

I recoil onto my back with the sudden invasion of the purple demon, his red eyes not exactly something that I was used to – you know, for red eyes _not existing_ back on earth.

Buwaro is... actually kinda harmless looking. Whatever is visible at the edges of his clothing is a bit on the frail side, and his face sort of reminds me of a puppy. _'Not dangerous,'_ I tell myself as I look at his chest, _'as long as he keeps his star pendant on.'_

"Him? He's my new subordinate." Sakido informs them gruffly – _oh thank god I don't have to talk_ – from off to the side.

"Oh. Alright. Anyway, here," Rhea goes up to Sakido and hands her a letter, "we came to visit just to deliver this letter."

I felt someone poke me on my shoulder. I turn and see that _Buwaro is in my face again holy Hell_ -

"What's your name, new guy?" Buwaro tilts his head, and I can smell smoke coming from his breath.

Right. He can breathe fire sometimes.

Still, he is _way to damn close for comfort_.

I back up and decide to stand up for the first time since the two arriving. I take another look at Buwaro and realize that, without the horns, I am _taller than him_.

I wouldn't be ashamed to admit that some part of me felt a bit better for being taller than a demon. An unnaturally friendly demon, but a demon none-the-less.

"Um, M-Micheal. Micheal Asche." Damn it, I stuttered. Now people are gonna rip on me for being way too damn socially awkward and then _this will really start to be hell for me whatamIgonnado_ -

"Well hi, Micheal! I'm Buwaro, and the jerk over there is Rhea." At this, the conversation that Rhea and Sakido were having stops with Rhea whipping her head in our direction with a glare in here eyes.

"What the hell did you say, dumbass?" Rhea damn near _growls_ out, stomping her way over to us.

"Don't call me a dumbass, you jerk!" Buwaro has a scowl on his face, with his eyes _literally glowing red holy shit that's scary_.

Well, at least they got away from me-

"Well aren't you full of sunshine and rainbows." My _goddamn mouth_ decides for me that it would try to pour gasoline into the fire. And- yep, they both whipped their heads to me, Rhea's full of anger and Buwaro's full of... something. His eyes are wide and shining, though.

"The hell are you on about, new guy?" Rhea grinds out through clenched teeth.

Okay, this would be a good time to defuse the situation, Micheal-

"What I'm on about, short stack, is that you about to get you ass kicked off this damn pillar if you keep arguing." I say coldly.

… well, there goes any chance at making sure that one of the protagonists don't hate my guts. Way to go, me-

Wait, where did Buwaro go?

 _CHOMP!_

Sakido, Rhea and I turn our heads to the sound to find Buwaro _eating a branch off the fucking bonsai_.

"BUWARO! WHY THE _HELL_ ARE YOU EATING MY BONSAI?!" Sakido shouts out, a livid expression on her face.

Oh, this ain't good.

Sakido picks up Rhea like she's nothing, turns to Buwaro, and then _fucking throws Rhea_ at Buwaro. The fuzzy projectile hits her mark, and both Rhea and Buwaro are sent _screaming_ off the cliff. After a second, Sakido walks over to the edge and leans over it. In my shock, I follow her and do the same.

"Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't have done that." Sakido comments to her own actions like she didn't just _throw two people off a pillar_.

"You think?" I look back up to her, but I already see her deep in thought.

… she is going to help them, right? She does care about her brother in _some_ capacity, so she is going to save them.

 _Right?_

Thankfully, Sakido takes a step back and leaps off the edge, entering a nose dive towards the falling duo. I see her snatch them on her way down and then spread her wings out. Not only does it look like their fall is slowing, but then she starts to beat her wings and _fly back up here_. The strength on those wings can't happen back home, no matter how weird nature gets.

Seeing that it's going to take a minute for Sakido to fly the two back up here, I go back to the middle and sit back down, reentering my position from earlier.

Okay, so my situation isn't the best. I pissed off one character, am on a rocky relationship with an angel acting as Death, and have an awkward standing with a demon that manages to be more awkward than _me_ , of all people.

At least the one good thing is that Buwaro doesn't hate me. He does have an issue with personal space, though.

Still, getting stuck with Sakido is an... odd situation. Precarious would probably be a better word. I know what her future holds, and none of it ends well for her. And here I am, stuck to her as my supervisor in _Hell_.

When I died, I thought I didn't have to deal with people, again. I was supposed to just pass away and not have to be a burden to anyone else. But here I am, stuck with having to deal with people who are more socially deficient and _definitely_ more emotionally broken than I am. If this is some kind of convoluted punishment for not dealing with people for most of my life, then having people deal with _me_ for my last three years on Earth, _holy shit_ this is the worst way to do it. Or the best, if that someone isn't me.

I sigh as Sakido reaches the top and lands, depositing her two tag alongs onto the ground roughly.

Well, time for Sakido to send those two onto a quest into the center of Hell, itself.

* * *

After Sakido tells the two about their 'mission', and then promptly booting them off _again_ , she turns around and jumps a bit at seeing me there, sitting on the floor.

"Did... you forget I was here?" My voice is quiet, as to not startle the demon that can probably shoot enough lightening into me to disintegrate my entire body.

Thinking healthy thoughts, here.

Sakido shakes her head and goes over to her recently abused bonsai, inspecting the extent of the damage dealt via purple fire demons. After a minute of inspecting the diminutive tree, she gives a sigh of relief and starts to poke and prod at it.

A part of me feels safe at the size of the plant, knowing that it's mass isn't one that can kill if toppled over. It being on fire, on the other hand...

Nah, Sakido would probably kill whoever sets her bonsai on fire. _Ha_ , Sakido is both my protector and my captor, with the power of lightening at her beck and call.

Sakido turns back from her potted tree and looks to me, narrowing her eyes as she looks at my face.

"What are you smiling for?" She scowls and crosses her arms for good measure.

Was I smiling? My hand shoots up to my face and sure enough, a crooked grin is plastered on it's ugly mug. I quickly wipe it off at Sakido's glare intensifying.

"Um, just wondering if that lightening you use would be a good way to kill trees," at that, Sakido face contorts slightly in confusion, "Speaking of, is that a thing that demons can do? The lightening stuff, not the tree killing." I clarify when Sakido recoils slightly in bewilderment.

… Would I be able to use magic? I'm not even from this universe, so could I even _access_ it? What if I can't access it? How am I supposed to deal with the plot if I can't have any firepower on my side?

 _How the hell would I explain not being able to use magic?_

"It's magic, mortal. Do you not know what magic is? Last I have heard, medians can also use it, although not as strong as a demon can." Sakido uncrosses her arms to place them on her hips.

Well, a half truth would probably be the best way to do this, without me _completely_ lying out my ass.

"Magic? Where I am – _was_ – from, magic is just a myth." I cock my head to the side.

"Just a myth? How the hell did you never hear what magic is?"

I shrug. "I've just never heard of it being real, and those capable of it are fake, and just use slight of hand for card tricks."

Sakido looks slightly taken aback from my answer, but shakes her head and looks to me again.

"So you're saying that you have _never_ used magic before?"

"Nope. Nobody back home can, for that matter."

Sakido just stares at me, mouth agape. After a few seconds of the bewildered look, I fidget a bit and look off to the side.

"Sorry for being a defective, I guess." I mumble out.

I can still feel her gaze linger on me for a while, before I hear her move off to the side. Probably to perch, again. At that, I crawl the short distance back to the ledge opposite of her and hang my legs over the edge, back to the ground. I look up to the ceiling of Hell, just wishing that the sky would show itself, instead of an endless expanse of stone.

It's not like night would be much different than back home, though. Back home, the light pollution of the nearby city would keep the sky as black as pitch, with only the brightest of stars showing through. The pictures of night skies that are blanketed with stars seems like a far away dream, or even just fake. Civilization is everywhere you go, and it's nigh impossible to get a sight like those ones.

"Another thing that never changes." I whisper to myself, setting myself to wait for Rhea and Buwaro's return.

I have to find a way to make sure I don't fall off at her future outburst, anyhow-

"What are you whispering about, mortal?" Sakido's voice jars me out of my thoughts, looking back to see her facing me.

I blinked. Never though her to start a conversation. Or to even hear me. Looking at her massive ears answers that line of thought, though.

"There's no sky, just a ceiling." I state, looking back up to the ceiling of Hell.

"... no, there isn't one." Sakido repeats, her head turning up to the ceiling in the corner of my eye.

We stare at the ceiling for a few seconds before I look back to her.

"Has anyone told you what the sky looks like, back in the land of the living?" She looks back down to me, an unreadable expression on her face. She stares at me for a minute before she speaks up again.

"Someone has told me what the sky in Meidus looks like, yes. Said that in the day, it's a nice color of blue, and at night, a black that is spotted with the light of stars." Sakido almost seems to poetically tell me. She tilts her head in my direction.

"Have you seen the stars where you were from, or do you not have stars where you are from?" Sakido's tone is half serious, half teasing when she asks. Her brow furrows slightly when I start to chuckle.

"Funnily enough, you're almost right. The light pollution from home makes it so the night's sky is as black as pitch, and even on the clearest nights only a handful of stars show. And seeing how there isn't a sky here, I guess that the only thing that's missing is the light of day." I gesture to the ceiling again to punctuate what I said.

Sakido seems to mull over what I've said for a second and moves over to perch next to me. I lean up to sit on the ledge, both of us looking over the horizon. Off to the left, I can see a ring of walls that signifies the center of Hell.

"Light pollution?" Sakido brings back up when she got comfortable in her new spot.

"Yeah, it's when a large town or a city has too many lights on during the night, and in turn darkens the sky. I lived next to a city for my entire life, so the lights from it kept the sky pitch black." At this information, Sakido turns her head to the ceiling in thought. Again, after a minute, she looks back to me.

"So you lived your entire life without seeing something as simple as a star filled sky?"

"Yep, among other things. I did die young, after all. My parents would be disappointed in me, if they ever found out." I add in the last part as a joke, which seems to fly right over her head.

It was a bad joke, anyways. Ma would be disappointed.

"So," I say as I turn my head from the ceiling to Sakido, "who told you what the sky looked like?" At my question, Sakido seems to hesitate for a second before shaking her head and reaching into a pocket on her person. What she pulled out was a series of leaflets, with oddly neat handwriting on them.

"Death had set me up with a... penpal of sorts from purgatory, and we have been exchanging letters, often with poetry, for about a year now." Oh, I forgot about her penpal. Weird how her penpal is basically an old poet in another plane of existence, though. She thumbs through a few of them and pulls out a small scrap of paper, handing it to me.

"Hear is one piece that I made myself." I took the offered literature and bring it up to my face to read it aloud.

" _My heart beats slowly_

 _Never before have I seen_

 _Puppies..._ ride rainbows?" I end the short poem with a question.

Yeesh, it's this one. The only other poem that I've seen that was probably this crazy was from...

I silently hand the poem back to Sakido and put my hands to my face.

There was another friend that was in the group that was an odd one out, and that poem reminded me a bit _too_ much of her.

Sarah. She was always the eccentric one of the group, and seemed to be our resident hype-woman. She always wore brightly colored clothing – _no tie dye, she thought it was a cheap way to bring color to her outfit_ – and seemed to have a perpetual grin on her face, with a fascination for the weird. When I first came into the group, she just patted my back, said that it was okay, and then called me a socially awkward puppy.

She always said that she had a dream to see the world, and then write about the odd parts that seem to stick out in every place that she visits. She already started on it, with the first part being the odd group of people that was her friends. Then she would save up enough money to travel the world and record the oddities that she was so sure to find.

I also found out that we had the same addiction in web-comics, and we ended up being fast friends.

She was also the one who cried when she thought that we all were going to die in a forest fire.

Only one of us ended up dying, though. And it was the dead weight of the group.

 _So why was she crying as hard as Thomas when I died? They were supposed to be happy that they got to live, so why are they so sad_ -

"Is something the matter?" Sakido's voice shakes me out of my thoughts. I take a shaky breath and _holy hell I'm having a breakdown right now_.

I can feel a wetness on my face and my vision is watery. I turn away from Sakido to wipe the sudden tears away from my face. When I'm sure that my face isn't leaking, I take a deep breath and face Sakido. Her brows are furrowed slightly with what must be confusion.

"No, it's just, the poem," I hurry to clarify when her eyes narrow, "it reminded me of a friend that I had, not the poem itself."

Before she can say anything else, I stand up and move to he center of the pillar, sitting with my back to her.

Now that I think about it, my back probably looks terrible. If I remember correctly, fatal wounds from someone's demise doesn't go away, so my back probably looks like it got char-grilled.

That's not a beautiful sight to behold. At least it's on my back-

"You have to feel it out," I jump at Sakido's voice coming from behind me. I turn around to take a better look at her.

"Feel what out?"

"Your magic. It comes as a sort of feeling, and it's different for everyone. Unless you have the same nature as my magic, it will definitely be different."

"What does it feel like for you?" I turn about on the ground to better face her.

"It's hard to describe, but it feels like..." She waves her hand around to try to find the right word.

"A shocking experience?" I try to fill in with a crooked grin. Sakido levels me with a deadpan stare at my fantastic wit.

"To put it bluntly, yes. Don't make another pun again, or else." She adds in with a flick of lightening from her clawed hands.

"Okay. And _messaged received_ , please don't electrocute me." I put my hand up in surrender.

Sakido seems to think about it for a second before a gleam comes to her eye.

"I don't know, I do seem to be behind on my quota for being your demon supervisor," at her wondering, she puts her hand up and curls it into a fist, electricity flowing around it.

I swallowed. Hard.

"I don't know about that, the awkward silences seem to be bad enough with the threat of lightening. Adding in more is a bit much, don't you think." I laugh nervously as Sakido stands to her full height – _holy shit I forgot she's tall_ – and _looms_ over me, a sadistic grin on her face.

Please tell me Rhea and Buwaro will be back soon.

* * *

After waiting for _two hours_ , and with _way_ too much electricity in it to be comfortable, I finally hear the two almost reach the top, arguing included. I see Rhea and Buwaro's hands reach the ledge, only Rhea's being shaky from the climb.

A part of me feels sympathetic, while the vindictive part feels satisfied that another felt my pain.

"God... this climb is such a pain the ass..." Rhea huffs out as she pulls herself onto the ledge. The takes a moment to catch her breath before taking a deeper one and facing Sakido.

"SAKIDO WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL US THAT IRATU WOULD GO CRAZY I THOUGHT HE'D HAVE A HANGOVER OR-" Sakido went over to Rhea and crouched down to her level to put a finger on Rhea's nose.

"Demon's don't get hangovers." At this, Rhea deflates and makes a confused noise. Sakido stands back up and then elaborates.

"Earth demons fall asleep for an entire day after they get drunk. If woken up, they go crazy... but it's nothing compared to what a demon can do sober. I'm not sure about water demons, but it's rumored that fire demons will explode if they drink any alcohol." She points to Buwaro to emphasize the point.

...note to self: make sure Buwaro _never_ touches any alcohol. _Ever._

"Wow. What about _wind_ demons?" Rhea seems intrigued by all of this. Probably the booze.

Sakido doesn't say anything, but she does noticeably shudder.

… what would happen if wind demons get drunk? Has to be bad, if _Sakido_ , of all people, shudders at the thought.

"... just give me the letter you brought." Sakido _expertly_ changes the subject. Ha.

At the mention of the letter they were supposed to get, Rhea looks hesitant.

Oh. Right. The letter is just a slobber-covered children's drawing.

I move to the opposite end of the pillar and sit next to the bonsai. The importance of the tree has to be enough to protect me from the wrath of Sakido.

"Okay, just give me a second." Rhea moves over to Buwaro, who is still laying on his stomach, and _leaps_ onto his back. The action causes Buwaro to start coughing and hacking, eventually spitting out a slobbery, balled up piece of paper.

"...disgusting." Sakido mumbles out, but still picks up the paper. I notice Rhea backing up to the ledge, probably to make her getaway. After a second of looking at the paper, she starts to grip it tightly at the edges.

"This is fine... thank you." Sakido softly says. Rhea whips around with a bewildered look on her face. Buwaro equally looks confused.

"Wha... huh? Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now... please leave me alone." Her hands are crumbling the paper even more now, but her back is to the duo.

"But... wha-" is all Rhea is able to say before Sakido quickly turns around with a glare in her eye.

"I said **LEAVE!** " Sakido roars to them, said duo bolting off the side of the pillar.

After a minute of huffing and puffing from her outburst, Sakido bunches the paper up into a ball and throws it off the side.

"Damn it..." She mumbles, standing there with her hands clenched.

She pauses for a second and looks over to me, still sitting over by the bonsai.

Yeah, it looks like the bonsai might not save me. I look away from her to the ground next to me. I can still feel the intensity of her gaze burning a hole into the side of my skull.

We stay like that for what was probably a minute, but what felt like an hour. Her glaring at me, and myself finding the ground next to me _very_ interesting.

My back starts to ache again.

I hear her move off to the side, and when I look back up, she's perched on the ledge, again.

… okay, I know something's up. If I know Sakido from the comics, she would probably have electrocuted me to death, and I am currently _not_ full of volts. I take a closer look at her and-

-her shoulders are shaking.

… is she laughing? Did she finally lose it when she got the picture-

I can hear sniffling. Coming from _Sakido_.

 _Holy shit she's crying._

What the hell am I supposed to do with someone who's _crying_. I'm too goddamn socially awkward to know what to do. Do I just sit by and let her let go? I mean-

My back's pain worsens at those thoughts.

Before I know what I'm doing, I'm walking over to her. The space up here is small, so only a few steps bring me to her side.

 _Well, the worst that can happen is that she kills me. And even then, I'll just come back the next day._

I sigh and sit down a few feet from Sakido. Her weeping stops for a second as she turns her head to me, looking down over the pinnacles.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Sakido's voice has a growl in it, the anger overriding her earlier sadness.

"Sitting next to you." I say simply, legs swinging slowly over the edge.

Sakido doesn't do anything for a second, mulling over my simple answer.

The pain in my back lessens slightly.

"... why?" The growl devolved into a dangerous undertone. Okay, getting somewhere.

I take a second to think about my answer.

"To keep you company, I suppose." I turn to Sakido with my answer, legs still swinging to a nonexistent breeze.

I see her face for the first time since the outburst. Eyes red from her crying, tear stains going down her face, and a minor look of shock. Her eyes narrow into a glare again, but it's pitiful compared to the ones she used on me earlier.

I turn my head back to the pinnacles.

I feel the pain lessen further.

"Why are you doing this?" Her voice's weak. Raw. Not in any way I would describe the Sakido that kicked ass trying – and succeeding – to get Buwaro and Rhea out of Hell.

It takes me longer to formulate a response, Sakido's glare pinning into the side of my head.

"Well, you're sad. And I know that having company makes the pain lessen." I gesture to ourselves.

"And honestly? I don't care if you're the one in charge of my suffering. It doesn't mean that I can let you suffer. I'd never forgive myself if I just let someone hurt quietly. Alone."

I can see Sakido stiffen in the corner of my eye, like the information bewilders her to no end.

It probably does. The last person to probably say it is currently a substitute Death.

We lapse into a silence, me looking over the jagged landscape below, and Sakido staring at me. After a while, I see Sakido sit down like myself and hang her oddly shaped legs off the edge. Her breathing evens out after a while.

The pain in my back leaves, and I can feel myself finally relax.

"Thank you, Micheal." Sakido breaks the silence.

This is the first time she said my name.

"I thought you thank people by throwing them off giant pillars?" I look to her with a crooked grin, which falls slightly at the sincerity on her face. At my words, though, she gives out a small laugh.

"You're a strange one, Micheal." She manages to match my crooked grin with one of her own.

Yeesh, with a smile like that, we could be brother and sister.

 _Yeah, Micheal. Siblings with a demon._

I studiously ignore the voice.

I looks back to the view in front of me, both mine and Sakido's legs swinging slightly.

"Speaking of throwing people off cliffs," I point off in the direction that Rhea and Buwaro fell from, "What are you going to do about those two? They _did_ seem worried before you scared them off."

Sakido tilts her head slightly and, after a moment, joins me in looking over the landscape.

"I'll deal with that tomorrow." She waves her hand dismissively.

Well at least she's doing something about it, instead of waiting to be dragged into it a week later, or something. Man, I wish I had a refresher on what goes on, or at least write it down, somewhere.

"Sounds like a plan, Sakido-"

That's all I say before the weird light illuminating all of Hell _fucking disappears_.

" _HOLY SHIT WHERE DID THE LIGHT GO?!_ " I oh so eloquently shout out to Sakido. I look next to me to see two glowing blue orbs _just floating there_ -

Oh, it's just Sakido. Spooky.

"It's night, now. Let's get some rest for tomorrow." I hear her get up from the ledge and move somewhere behind me. She stops for a second when she probably notices that _I haven't moved a muscle_.

"Aren't you going to move away from the ledge?" She asks me from _somewhere_ behind me.

"Sakido," I say slowly, "If you haven't noticed, I can't see anything. And we're on top of a _fucking_ pillar. _Please_ help."

I hear her give out a small 'oh' before she walks over to me. I expected her to guide me by my shoulder to a spot, but then she _picks me up_ , carries me to a spot, and then _drops me_.

"There. Rest well." She briskly tells me, before I hear her go some distance next to me and plop herself down.

Well. That's one way to end my first day in hell. At least I didn't die on my first day, so that's got to mean something. Or I'm just stupidly lucky.

Probably just lucky, knowing my social skills.

Now, there's just one last thing, before I hit the hay. Or rocks, in this case. I am not going to enjoy sleeping here, in Hell.

"Hey, Sakido?" I ask quietly to the space next to me.

Two glowing blue orbs open in response.

"Sorry about my snarkier attitude from earlier. I think dying pulled out the worst in me, or something." I rub the back of my head when I thought about our meeting.

Sakido blinks once, the glowing disappearing for a split second before showing itself again.

"Apology accepted, Micheal."

She doesn't mind me. She's strong. I won't be a burden.

A warm feeling glows from my back as I close my eyes and welcome sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright! So, that's the second chapter of HHNS. Hope you liked it. Although, to be honest with you all, I hope I got the interactions between Sakido and Micheal done right. That, and looking back at all of the panels of _Slightly Damned_ , I notice that there is a _lot_ of time where nothing is specifically labeled because of time skips and montages disguised as time skips. As far as using those to my advantage/disadvantage, it's a work in progress. Sometimes it helps to use it and get a piece of new plot in gear, and sometimes it leaves lot of blank space for... filler. **

**And I'm looking at it as if someone just randomly hand you a baby, tells you to look at it, then walks away. It's awkward. But I'll deal with it.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and have a good rest of your morning/noon/evening/night.**


	4. Tale of Two Fires

**A/N: Alrighty then, another day, another chapter. And accompanying this chapter is something new: Different POV's! Or, uh, one different POV. But you get something other than Michael for once, so there. Woo.**

 **Also, as a side note, FFN is having a stroke at the time of finishing this, so having chapters posted in the future might take a while. Just a heads up.**

 **Anyways, enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: _I do not own Slightly Damned. I thought me saying that the first three times is obvious enough, but here is a fourth, for good measure._**

* * *

 **Through Ashen Eyes:**

 _Smoke. That's the first thing that I come to notice._

 _I can feel it rolling over my skin, moving in my lungs, swirling in my nose, it's all that I can register. It doesn't hurt, but it's smell does leave something to be desired._

 _Heat and pressure is the next thing that I can feel, it's origin coming from my back. The heat it something that is vaguely comforting, like taking a too hot shower in the morning, being too tired to make it cooler. The pressure, on the other hand, is something that I can go without, making it a bit of a challenge to breathe._

 _I open my eyes to the world on fire._

 _Oh. It's the forest I died in._

 _I can see out of the corner of my eye a few pairs of legs. It was my group of friends trying to get the tree off of me. Thomas and Sarah are the ones closest to my face, and I can still see the tear marks going down Sarah's face, it being accented by the ash and smoke in the air. Thomas appears to be shouting something at everyone else._

 _As time goes on, one by one, everyone stops trying to get the tree off of me, and they step back from it. All of their hands are covered in ash and blisters from the burning tree on my back. Even after a while, Sarah stops trying, and goes to one of the others to cry harder._

 _Thomas is still pushing, though. He has tears streaming down his face now, making two rivers of ash down his face._

 _If he keeps pushing like this, he's going to hurt his hands._

 _"Hey. Thomas." I try to get his attention with my smoke filled lungs. The taste of it coming out of my mouth feeling oddly calming._

 _"Shush, Mike. You're going to be alright. I'll get this tree off of you and w-we'll go onto the helicopter and it's be just like one of those crappy B-movies, alright? Alright?!" His voice is getting panicky, and his eyes are looking into mine with a touch of hysteria._

 _But if he stays, he'll get hurt._ ** _Nobody_** _will get hurt because of me._

 _I crack out one of my crooked smiles._

 _"Go, Tom. You'll get hurt if you stay any longer." At my suggestion, Thomas whips his head down to me, his pushing lightened._

 _"A-Are you crazy?! I won't leave you here! I won't abandon you!"_

 _"Just go. It'll be alright." My smile stays the same, even if my tears are leaking onto the ground._

 _Thomas slowly stops pushing, his hands charred black and bleeding out of some cracks. As soon as he takes a step back, he falls to his knees and breaks down, unable to move any farther away. One of the friends from the group go up to him and takes him to his feet, guiding him back to the helicopter._

 _As soon as everyone gets in, the door closes and off the copter goes, out of the clearing and to safety. I close my eyes, my back starting to become more uncomfortable because of the burning tree that's on it._

 _Then, the burning all stops. The heat goes back down to being slightly comforting, and the sounds of the forest fire suddenly stops. The smoke is still present, however. I open my eyes to-_

 _-an ash covered forest, as if the fire both happened and yet didn't. I look at my back to find that the burning tree is gone, and that there is a long pile of ash that seems to fit it's width._

 _I feel as if someone is watching, but no matter the direction I look, it's just more ash covered forest._

 _As I look over the clearing, something catches my eye in the center. Standing up – and sending a layer of ash flying weightlessly into the air – I move to the center of the clearing, the hiking boots I wear kicking up clouds of ash._

 _When I reach the item, I see that it's my Ma's lighter, only a shiny part of it sticking out of the thick layer of ash on the ground. I pick it up, and all the ash around it seems to fall off of it, leaving it as clean as I remember it. I thumb over the design of the phoenix for a second before flipping it open and going to light it._

 _As soon as my thumb strikes it once, it lights, leaving a small, dancing flame. It's so innocent, compared to the raging fire that had consumed me. A flash of a crooked smile enters my thoughts, one so much like mine, but more feminine._

 _Suddenly, I hear the sound of someone grunting, and upon looking up half of the forest in front of me is gone, replaced with a slope covered in stones. An ashen log spills over from the forest onto the slope. I walk to the edge to find the source of the sound to find-_

 _-Rhea, as color-deprived as the ashen forest behind me._

 _I blink. Why is Rhea here? I walk down the ash-covered log to the rocks below, the lighter's flame the only color spilling over myself. One of Rhea's large ears lifts up and twitches, and she turns around-_

 _-and there is a freaking_ ** _knife_** _sticking out of her chest, the only thing not blank-and-white being the blood leaking out of the wound._

 _"You're new." Her shoulders lift up a bit, voice slightly intrigued. As if she hasn't been_ ** _stabbed_** _-_

 _"You already said that, snake eyes." My reply causes her to narrow said eyes in annoyance._

 _I feel a shiver roll up my spine, and from the looks of it Rhea feels it too. I can feel and smell a smoke-heavy wind come from our left, and looking over in said direction reveals-_

 _-a figure, cloaked in black, with eerie white eyes glowing slightly from underneath their hood, in the distance. The edges of my vision start to fade to black, and a quick glance shows Rhea swaying slightly, as if she's about to fall asleep right where she's standing._

 _As my vision fades, I could barely hear it. If I wasn't paying attention, I would've just mistaken it for the wind._

 _"_ ** _...rynn..._** _"_

 _And then all I know is darkness, black and cold._

* * *

… there is an uncomfortably bright light shining in front of my eyelids.

 _Ow._

I throw my arm in front of my face, and the light goes down to a manageable level.

Then I notice how the ground is very cool and rough.

 _I probably just fell off the bed, again. Meh, I'm too lazy to get back into bed, anyways_ -

"Get up. We're heading to Buwaro and Rhea's home." A voice interrupts my inner monologue.

"Mm, five more minutes, Mrs. Smith." I manage to get out, using my free arm to vaguely wave in her direction.

I hear a crackle of electricity. My eyes shoot open to see a clawed hand surrounded in blue lightening. My gaze slowly moves upward to see glowing blue eyes-

"Oh, just you, Sakido." I relax again and roll my back to her, closing my eyes again.

I wiggle a bit to get comfortable, then breathe out a deep breath.

…

My eyes snap open and I bolt upwards.

 _The fire. Trees. White voids. Death. Climbing a tower that really should be burning in_ -

"Holy _shit_ , I'm in Hell still!" I shout, then immediately stumble at standing so quickly.

I hear Sakido snort from behind me, the cackling of electricity disappearing.

"Did you really forget about being dead?" I turn around to see her giving me a _very_ good deadpan.

I look around for a second before shrugging as an answer. Sakido huffs a small laugh, saying something under her breath that sounds an awful lot like 'how do you forget dying', before taking a single stride to move over to me.

She really is criminally tall. It's a crime to make someone who's almost six foot feel tiny.

"Alright, now that you're awake, we're going to visit Buwaro and Rhea."

"Oh yeah. That. Who's idea was it to do it this early in the morning, again?" I scratch my head and give out a big yawn.

 _I really wish I had some coffee, right now._

"If I remember correctly, it was your idea." She gives me a pointed look.

I retaliate with a deadpan of my own.

"If _I_ remember correctly, it was _you_ who thought to do it today." At my words, she falters slightly, but then she gives me another look.

"Well, I do have to give you a tour of this ring, as your supervisor, so we were going to go out, anyways."

Oh. Right.

I look back at the edge of the pillar – _lucky I didn't roll of it in the night_ – and glower at it. I _really_ don't want to have to climb down it, climbing up it was a big enough pain.

Sakido must've notice my look, because she huffed and put a hand on my shoulder.

"No, you're not climbing down. That would take too long."

I look up to her. "Well how do you propose I get down, then? Throwing me off?"

Instead of answering, she crouches slightly, puts her arm around my middle, and _lifts me up oh shit she better not_ -

"No, we are going to fly there." She spreads her wings out for emphasis, preparing for lift-off by coiling her legs.

 _Oh she is doing this_ ** _right the fuck now_** -

She _leaps_ , taking me with her like a sack of potatoes and _holy shit we're high up_ -

I will deny, forever, that I screamed. I will _not_ deny, however, Sakido laughing like the demon she is.

* * *

Eventually, after a few minutes, Sakido flies us to an area that is near the Styx and lands, depositing me roughly onto the ground.

"Oh _sweet lord_ , it's the ground." I lay on the ground, hugging it to the best of my ability. I will never forsake being on solid ground _ever_ _again_.

I hear Sakido do another unladylike snort. "The others are close by. We will go there on foot." I look up from my ground-groveling to see her already walking away from me. I quickly get up to catch up to her.

While we walk, I think back to the dream that I've had last night.

It's... surreal, to see my own death again. The pressure and heat of the burning tree on my back, the smoke in the air, it all seemed like it was happening again, but through dulled senses. I thought I would have nightmares about it, not have weird fever dreams. And when I officially 'died', I just woke up to the same forest. Albeit covered in ash, like how snow covers a forest in winter, but the same forest, nonetheless.

Then there is my Ma's lighter. Before lighting it, everything seemed... dull. Ashen. But lighting it brought a soothing orange glow to the area.

Reminds me of a campfire, but smaller.

And then all logic took a backseat when half the forest just _vanishes_ , being replaced by someone's _death_. And not just anybody's death, it was Rhea's?

Something's not right. I learned that by somehow taking a wrong turn when dying and ending up in Hell on a _different plane of reality_. Me being here cannot have been just a coincidence.

… would Rhea remember me? From her dream? She does have it multiple times, if I remember it correctly, so she might've remembered one having an anomaly. Said anomaly being myself.

That's going to be an awkward conversation. _Oh hi, Rhea. Yeah, sorry about being an ass yesterday, but have you been dreaming about me, because I have. And you got stabbed in the dream, so I kinda know that now, so please try not to kill me?_

Yeah _no_. Nope. Negative, ghost rider. That would be a negative, Houston-

Okay, that's enough, Michael. Get a hold of yourself.

After walking for another couple of minutes, we arrive to a clearing, with both Rhea and Buwaro...

Oh joy, they're beating the shit out of each other. Again. Sakido facepalms next to me.

I sigh and look up at her. "Want to wait a minute to figure yourself out, or..." At my lack of words, I gesture aimlessly.

She seems to seriously consider my unfinished question for all of two seconds before shaking her head. "I rather talk to them when they don't have concussions."

To this, I shrug my shoulders and put my thumb and index finger to my mouth-

-and blow a loud, _shrill_ whistle that puts a stop to everything and places all attention on me.

The small talents make for a better person, so I'm told.

I take my fingers from my mouth and put my fist on my hip. "Alright, you two, we would like to talk to you when you're not out cold, so could you stop for a second?" I watch as the two of them back away from each other, dusting themselves off, "Okay, so Sakido here came to talk about yesterday." I point to her and take a step back.

Sakido seems slightly off kilter, either from my surprisingly loud whistle, or for being put on the spot by myself. The two turn to Sakido, awaiting whatever she has planned to say.

Sakido takes a second to breathe, then looks at the two. "I would like to... apologize... for my outburst yesterday. You two went into Hell, with minimal directions, and managed to get _something_ , even if it wasn't what I was looking for. My actions were uncalled for." She finishes the apology with crossed arms, looking off to the side.

I look back to the two to see both Rhea's and Buwaro's jaws to the floor.

To be honest, I didn't expect this level of sincerity from Sakido, either, but I managed to keep a neutral face. I _had_ helped her through a breakdown that would've taken a week to get over alone.

I shiver at the thought. Being alone for that lone sucks.

 _I would know._

Buwaro seems to recover first. "So you aren't sad, big sis?" He asks hesitantly.

At his question, Sakido glances over to me. I see Rhea look between me and Sakido, most likely noticing the look.

"Wait, _you_ convinced her to apologize, new guy?" Rhea blurts out, confusion dominating her face.

Sakido and I share a look. She tilts her head, as if asking a question. I shrug my shoulders minutely and face the duo.

"Depends. There was a lot of lightening involved, so I would be thankful, if I were you." I shudder for emphasis. Both of them seem to understand and shudder themselves.

Buwaro gets a hopeful expression on his face. "Does that mean you're not mad anymore, Sakido?" The more I see Buwaro, the easier it is to compare him to a purple puppy. It's honestly hard to stay mad at him, at least from my perspective.

Sakido doesn't even hesitate in her response, surprisingly. "No, I'm not mad, Buwaro." She gruffly tells him.

Buwaro sees that as the a-okay to let out a big cheer and leap at Sakido for a hug. Sakido, of course, holds her arm up to keep Buwaro at arms length. It doesn't seem to diminish his attitude one bit, however.

I hear Rhea walking up to me and turn to her. "Man, you must have some real guts, if you managed to convince _her_ to apologize. She seems like the kind of person to never be happy about anything." She gives me another look, a flash of respect in her eyes.

"Um, I didn't really do much, actually," at her skeptical expression, I elaborate, "I'm serious, most of this was her idea. The only thing _I_ did was sit down for a bit and then ask her what she was going to do about her outburst, yesterday." We look over to Sakido, still fending off Buwaro.

A thought crosses my mind as I look back down to Rhea. "And another thing, Rhea," She looks up to me – _wow, she's short_ – with a quirked eyebrow, "I would also like to apologize for what I said yesterday. Just because it was my first day in Hell doesn't mean I could lash out like I did. Sorry about that." I start to look sheepish.

Rhea looks taken aback, then puts her hands on her hips, a slight scowl on her face. "You better be sorry, new guy. And don't think that you're getting off the hook," she uses her unusually long tail to give her a few inches of height, jabbing a finger into my face, "I expect to be paid in full, for what you did."

… really? That's it?

"Wait, how am I supposed to pay you back, then?" I ask with a tilt of my head.

Rhea seems to falter slightly, going back to standing on the ground. She puts a hand to her face to think for a second, then snaps her fingers and looks to me.

Her grin has a slightly sinister edge to it. "You can owe me a favor. Said favor has to be done, without question."

Huh. Well, I suppose it could be worse. Although not much is worse than being in Hell itself, for that matter.

I shrug. "Sure. One favor that will be done, without question. After all, I _did_ threaten to punt you off Sakido's pillar."

Rhea nods, satisfied with my answer. She is a _very_ animated person, now that I take a good look at her. It seems that any action she performs has her in a different pose, like she has one for every emotion under the sun. Makes me wish I had some of that ease of expression. I feel like a statue, standing next to her.

Rhea then gives me a look and uncrosses her arms. "Hey, Michael, right?" Another nod, "Okay, so we've started of on a bad foot, yeah? So why don't we start over and try this again?"

Huh, that's one way to make a protagonist no longer hate you. Neat.

I shrug and motion for her to start first. She takes my go ahead and seems to strike a pose, putting a hand on her chest. "Hiya, the name's Rhea Snaketail. Nice to meetcha, again." She finishes by sticking her hand out to shake, a crooked smile on her face.

I crack a crooked grin of my own and move my hand to clasp hers. "Hey, I'm Michael Asche, the socially inept guy. Nice to meet you again, snake eyes." I give off a firm shake.

At the nickname I gave her, she narrows her eyes slightly in annoyance and squeezes her hand more.

Not to be shown up, I squeeze down harder, too.

What followed was one of the weirdest competitive, passive-aggressive handshakes that I have ever participated in, with the intensity of both our squeezes and handshaking increasing gradually to the point of us just trying to break the other's hand. She has am oddly strong grip, but I have the size advantage, therefore a standoff has occurred, one not being able to outdo the other.

It was at the point where we both have looks of strain on our faces where we both freeze at the sound of someone clearing their throat. With our hands still in their death grip, we slowly turn our heads to the two demons off to the side. Buwaro is no longer trying to hug Sakido, and Sakido herself is standing there with her arms crossed, brow raised.

"Are you two done holding hands?"

At her question, Rhea and I both whip our heads to our hands, still in their death grip, then to each other. We both let go at the same time and take a step away from each other, massaging our hands from their gripping battle. As soon as this happens, Buwaro bursts out laughing.

He points at Rhea while he laughs. "W-Wow, I've never s-seen Rhea this e-embarrassed b-before!" Buwaro starts to clutch his sides from his laughter.

My eye starts to twitch. I look over to see Rhea with an equally annoyed expression on her face. She looks over to me and we both seem to get the same idea, crooked grins coming to our faces as we turn to Buwaro.

"Hey Rhea?" I ask loudly, getting both the attention of Buwaro and Rhea, "I hold him down and you deliver the _pain_?" Buwaro stops laughing.

"Yeah, Michael," She answers in a sinister voice, "Sounds like a _great_ plan."

Buwaro looks like we would be sweating bullets, if he could.

He puts up his hands in a placating manner. "H-Hey, you two..." Is all he gets out before he turns and bolts into the opposite direction. Rhea and I instantly give chase to our prey.

Needless to say, both me and Rhea had a nice bonding moment over the terror we wrought in Hell, that day. We chased Buwaro around the surrounding area, running him ragged, and we were almost upon our kill before Sakido swooped in and saved her brother.

Then it turned into us being the hunted, our out-of-breath bodies having to dodge our demon supervisors' chasing attempts; Buwaro after Rhea and Sakido after me. Rhea had a fairly easy time, keeping out of reach of Buwaro with a natural agility befitting her species. I had the harder time, with Sakido dive bombing me from every angle, occasionally shooting out small sparks at my ankles to keep me on my toes.

Despite the situation seeming to be two demons trying to enjoy killing two mortals, if one looked on my face or Rhea's, they would see large, silly grins on our faces. We were having fun, despite being damned for eternity.

Near the end of the chase, Rhea must've seen my hard time with keeping away from Sakido, so she changed course for me. Buwaro, in turn, slowly merged with Sakido's path, making the two demons chasing the two of us.

"I have an idea on how to lose them!" Rhea shouts to me.

I look over to her, slowing my run slightly to match hers. "Alright, I'll follow your lead, then!" I shout back, weaving out of the way when I hear another lightning shock head my way and hit the ground.

Rhea puts some extra speed into moving on all fours, veering off to the right towards a large rock formation that resembles an arch. We move towards the archway, Sakido and Buwaro a distance behind us. As soon as we pass under the arch, Rhea turns on a dime and lifts her fist into the air, a bright yellow glow surrounding it.

"Terra Spike!" Rhea shouts out as she brings her fist to the ground.

When her fist connects, the ground itself seems to break apart, spikes of rock shooting out from her fist and progressively getting bigger the further it goes from Rhea. The furthest spike juts into the side of the arch, putting a large fracture into it. The fracture soon spreads, the whole archway crumbling down onto the area where we just walked under. I can see Buwaro and Sakido both halt and watch in awe as the whole structure falls down onto the path, ruining their way to get us.

As the archway falls, I give out a cheer, patting the exhausted looking jakkai on her back.

"Damn Rhea, that was _awesome_. You got to do that again, sometime." I see her nod, a grin matching mine on her face.

I see her about to open her mouth when I hear a larger crumbling sound from above. I look up to see-

…

I didn't think.

I just acted.

When I look back on the situation, there was a much larger piece from Rhea's destruction heading right for us, and my body just moved on it's own.

I took my arm that was next to Rhea, put my entire arm across her, and then _heaved_ her out of the way, making my back facing the large shard of stone.

But instead of getting hit by the stone, a feeling welled inside of me, spreading from my back to the rest of my body like wildfire, then heading to my back again.

It felt comforting, like sitting at a campfire with friends, chatting and telling cheesy ghost stories. A moment later, it felt like a raging inferno, like the world was set on fire.

All that I felt was a searing heat like no other flood around me.

All that I saw was a blinding orange-red light, before it all went to black.

* * *

 **Through Snake Eyes:**

Rhea hardly expected today to start off with having herself eating her own words from the end of yesterday, then it's climax being her new neighbor exploding.

…

 _Alright,_ she thinks, _that line of thought needs a bit more of an explanation._

That said, it _was_ one of the more crazy things that she has ever seen, right next to her old friend J causing _that explosion_.

Almost.

It all started with herself and Buwaro getting into another wrestling match, Buwaro setting off Rhea again for being... well, Buwaro. It's almost criminal how easy it is to get mad at him.

But during said fight, right when she was about to get the upper hand, the absolute _worst_ noise came from across the clearing that herself and Buwaro were fighting in. Rhea stops fight for a second to hold her ears, turning to rip a new one into whoever made that _fucking noise_ , when all the words died on the tip of her tongue at the sight of the visitors.

Sakido is leaning away from the new guy – _Michael Something-or-another_ – and said human has his hand to his mouth, making the _stupid_ _fucking noise_.

Rhea seems to just sit there, still looming over the prone form of Buwaro, wondering why the hell _Sakido_ is here.

The new guy pulls his hand away from his mouth and puts it on his hip. "Alright, you two, we would like to talk to you when you're not out cold, so could you stop for a second?" His voice is dry, black eyes set in a deadpan.

Rhea looks down to Buwaro, and when he saw her raised brow, he shrugs. They both part, dusting off some random debris on their clothes, then face their two visitors again.

New guy slouches a bit, his short, loose black hair tussling slightly. "Okay, so Sakido here came to talk about yesterday." He points to Sakido, taking a step to the side.

Rhea, in turn, starts to feel uneasy. She wonders what kind of things Sakido would do to her to try to clear the... evidence, of someone going into Hell, looking for a letter that isn't there.

The last thing she expected was for Sakido to put on a slightly apologetic expression. "I would like to... apologize... for my outburst yesterday. You two went into Hell, with minimal directions, and managed to get _something_ , even if it wasn't what I was looking for. My actions were uncalled for."

 _Wait what?_

Rhea mind then proceeds to blank, not expecting the apology ever happening _within the next century_. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rhea does register how even the new guy looks like he didn't expect it.

Rhea returns to reality at Buwaro's question. "So you aren't sad, big sis?" He lightly questions, trying not to agitate the big wind demon.

The only answer they get is Sakido and the new guy glancing at each other.

 _Wait a second..._

Rhea dramatically points at the new guy, a shocked expression on her face. "Wait, _you_ convinced her to apologize, new guy?" She shouts out.

To the new question, Rhea saw Sakido look over to new guy, tilting her head towards them. In response, new guy just shrugs and looks over to Rhea and Buwaro.

"Depends. There was a lot of lightening involved, so I would be thankful, if I were you." He shudders with a sour expression on his face.

Rhea thinks back to Sakido's pillar, thinking about being stuck up there with an emotionally unstable wind demon.

She shudders in sympathy. She needs to buy that guy a drink.

Rhea then throws that idea out the window, thinking back to Iratu's 'Bloody Mary'.

Buwaro speaks up again. "Does that mean you're not mad anymore, Sakido?" Rhea sees a hopeful expression on his face.

"No, I'm not mad, Buwaro." Sakido quickly and gruffly reassures him.

Rhea then flinches when Buwaro lets out a too-loud cheer and throws himself at Sakido to hug her.

 _Idiot._

Rhea then looks over to new guy – _Michael_ – and thinks for a second. Maybe there was something behind the perpetual neutral expression on his face.

She walks up to him, Michael turning when he must've heard her. "Man, you must have some real guts, if you managed to convince _her_ to apologize. She seems like the kind of person to never be happy about anything."

Michael proceeds to slouch a bit farther, hand going to the back of his head. "Um, I didn't really do much, actually," at Rhea's raised brow, he quickly elaborates, "I'm serious, most of this was her idea. The only thing _I_ did was sit down for a bit and then ask her what she was going to do about her outburst, yesterday." When he finishes, he looks off to the side, towards the two demons.

Rhea joins him, watching Sakido fend off his little brother's love with a simple hand to his head.

Michael speaks back up after a minute, gaining Rhea's attention. "And another thing, Rhea, I would also like to apologize for what I said yesterday. Just because it was my first day in Hell doesn't mean I could lash out like I did. Sorry about that." He starts to rub the back of his head again, musing up the back even further.

Rhea recoils slightly at _another_ apology. If Rhea was being honest with herself, she had forgot all about the outburst from Michael, the horrors of Hell and Sakido's outburst being the only main things she concerned herself with. And yet _he_ remembered, even through the – most likely – terrible things that Sakido put him through. Michael _is_ Sakido's subordinate, after all.

 _On the other hand..._

Rhea composes herself and puts her hand on her hip, smiling devilishly on the inside and scowling on the outside. "You better be sorry, new guy. And don't think that you're getting off the hook," Rhea uses her tail to prop herself up a few more inches, "I expect to be paid in full, for what you did."

Rhea saw his face go from first shock, then thoughtfulness, then to confusion.

"Wait, how am I supposed to pay you back, then?" Michael asks with a tilt of his head.

 _Oh..._

Rhea takes her hand and put it to her chin, thinking about the ways Michael could pay her back.

 _Ah, I got it._

Rhea puts herself back down on her feet, snapping her fingers and grinning evilly at him. "You can owe me a favor. Said favor has to be done, without question."

Rhea expected Michael to be slightly disturbed by her grin, but instead he looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

Michael shrugged. "Sure. One favor that will be done, without question. After all, I _did_ threaten to punt you off Sakido's pillar." He bluntly tells her.

Rhea inwardly shrugs and then nods to Michael. A favor is a favor, and she plans to cash in _big_.

Afterwards, it was a rush, where they decided to start over – _we totally acted like awkward teenagers_ – and somehow got into a weird gripping match, Sakido calling them out and _really_ started to act like awkward teenagers, then both herself and Michael teaming up to take down Buwaro's new-found ego.

Of course, it got ruined when Sakido joined in on Buwaro's side, and the resulting chase was completely one-sided in the demon sibling's favor, but Rhea couldn't deny the feeling of excitement rushing through her.

It reminded of her times with J and Ramirez, back when she was alive, before...

 _Anyways, moving on._

The next part was a bit blurred, where Rhea came up with the fantastic idea of cutting off their chasers with a landslide. Of course, she would have to wing it, and hitting the right spot might not happen, but she was running out of breath, so winging it would do.

She informed Michael of a plan, then took them to a sizable formation of stone. As soon as Rhea and Michael passed under the arch, she turned and put as much strength into her Terra Spike.

The resulting mayhem was completely worth the exhaustion she felt after the spell.

Rhea remembered Michael congratulating her on the destruction – _calling it awesome_ – and herself about to thank him, when she looked up to see a larger piece of the rock formation falling towards her.

Before she could even say 'not again', she felt herself getting harshly thrown to the side, hitting the ground hard.

When Rhea tried to get back up, she had to throw herself down because of a huge, _roaring_ _inferno_ that came from the direction of Michael and the boulder.

After a few seconds of the heat dying down, she looked back over to see a _huge_ scorch mark covering where she was, the large stone now nothing but pieces of white-hot rubble, heat waves radiating off of them. And in the center of the black mark was-

Rhea covered her mouth, a gasp escaping her mouth.

She couldn't tear her eyes away, even when she felt someone shaking her shoulders. She only pointed to what she was looking at, and whoever was behind her had the same gasp as hers.

In the center of the scorched earth, was a burnt corpse, it's back open to the element and bits of gore strewn around in various states of charring.

And it was still breathing.

As soon as Rhea registered this, she bolted to Michael, not caring if she stepped on a hot stone or if the ground was _way too damn hot_.

She slid to her knees in front of Michael's face, his eyes unscathed from the blast and slightly glazed over. "Holy _shit_ , Michael!"

His eyes moved slightly to connect with hers, black eyes now an ashen gray.

His mouth opened a bit farther. "...sorry...snake eyes..." Is all he gets out before he lets out his final breath, eyes still frozen in it's stare into Rhea's.

… _and we were having fun. In Hell._

Rhea tears her eyes away from Michael's dead ones to see that both Sakido and Buwaro are standing in front of her, either looking at what's left of Michael or the surrounding destruction.

"I wouldn't worry too much, you two," Sakido speaks up, gathering their attention. Rhea tries to speak up because _someone just exploded, how could this be fine_ , but Sakido interrupts her, "Mortals in Hell can 'die', but in the morning the next day they will be alright. It's a way to enhance torture in Hell, were you can still be killed, but it would never end."

After Sakido said that, she picked up the remains of Michael, said her farewell, then flew off, leaving Rhea and Buwaro standing on scorched earth.

That was a few hours ago. Now, Rhea is sitting on a rock, back in the area that Buwaro had claimed as his home. She looks up to see Buwaro busying himself with putting back together his rock collection. Apparently, he only made that mountain of rocks to impress her when she first came here, and now he is doing the long task of returning order to his rock collection. It's endearing, in a weird, moronic way.

 _Speaking of morons..._

The whole time Rhea had been sitting there, she couldn't get out of her mind what Michael had done to keep her from getting crushed. How he didn't even hesitate when he tossed her to the side. How the heat of the explosion Michael created can still be felt, if she thought hard enough.

 _How his eyes just faded to am ashen color as he died._

That was another issue that had arisen, for Rhea.

She had the same dream last night, where she remembered how she walked away from home, ignored Ramirez trying to stop her from leaving, then getting stabbed by someone she couldn't see.

That's where something different happened, instead of ending with the cloaked figure.

Rhea heard someone walking up behind her, and so she turned around in her dream.

She was met with Michael, a small metal object in his hand giving off a small, warm, orange-red glow. It was the only thing in her dream that had color, besides her own blood.

 _"You already said that, snake eyes."_

It was the two things that she remembered that stood out, other than the appearance of Michael, that she remembered.

 _"...sorry...snake eyes..."_

The thing that bothered Rhea the most, however, was the _feel_ of the inferno that Michael created.

It was... comfortable. Nice.

 _Like that one time last winter where J, Ramirez, and I told bad jokes and drank booze over a campfire._

It wasn't _bad_ , per se, but Rhea had felt odd. She never expected to feel like that ever since she was damned.

But there Rhea was, feeling the best she ever had ever since she died as Michael _burned and then faded away in front of her_ -

"Are you okay, Rhea?"

Rhea snaps her head up to look at Buwaro, looking at her with a worried look. She looks down at herself and notices that her hand curled into fists at some point, uncurling them and rubbing them to remove the soreness.

"Yeah, just thinking about some things." Rhea saw Buwaro instantly take on a melancholy look.

"Oh. I hope Michael will be alright soon." Buwaro sits on the ground in front of Rhea, sulking.

Rhea can't stand Buwaro looking this sad. It's depressing to see someone that's happy all the time just drop. She leaps off the rock and tries to put on a confident look, even if it feels a bit empty.

"I wouldn't worry too much. Remember what Sakido said: he will be alive and well tomorrow morning. So stop worrying so much, ya big dummy." Rhea finishes with a light shove to Buwaro's shoulder.

Which pushed over Buwaro.

"Hey! Stop that, you big jerk!" Buwaro shout out, all signs of sadness replaced with anger.

 _There, job well done._

Rhea prepares herself for another impromptu fight, glad she has a way to keep both of their minds out of their depressing thoughts. She'll find out about the new enigma that's Michael another day.

* * *

 **A/N: Ho boy, this was a chapter. To be honest, I have _no_ clue how this shift in POV looks, so I'm having a lot of trust in putting this out there. That, and making sure to write the Rhea from early on in the comics is slightly off-putting, compared to her more current version. On the bright side, this is the longest chapter so far, so good on myself for being able to type this much for a single chapter. **

**Silver linings, everyone.**

 **Anyways, hope you have a good rest of your morning/noo- you know what, you get the idea. Have a good one.**

 **P.S: I got my first favorite and follow as I was finishing this! You know who you are, and thank you!**


	5. Like Trust Falls, but Magical

**A/N: Hello again. Welcome back to another chapter of HHNS, where there is a higher chance of spontaneous combustion in teenagers. _Joy._ **

**But before you all get onto reading, I hadn't been checking the viewing traffic of this story – mostly because I forgot it existed for about a week – and I noticed that a _lot_ of people are actually reading this. I am not ashamed to admit I had a minor panic attack when I realized this. **

**Besides the panic attack, I like to say thanks, for reading some poor sod's way of passing time. Really.**

 **_Anyways._ Onto the story. **

**Disclaimer: _I, Randy, do not own, in any way, shape or form,_ _Slightly Damned_ _. Please, do not_ _ever_ _assume that I do. I'm serious._**

* * *

 _Ow._

The first thing that I come to is a _massive_ headache, like that one time I pulled an all-night-er and thought coffee was a good substitute for sleep.

It was not a fun day for anyone involved. Mostly me.

And _again_ , the bright light is making its mission to completely sear off my retinas, but my arms might as well be noodles with how they lack the ability to move, so no easy way out. I try to squirm slightly to roll over onto my gut, but it's not working, either.

My entire body feels _weak_ and _energized_ at the same time, proving to be way too much of an annoyance.

Thankfully, a shadow is cast over my face, saving my eyes from having to open up and deal with reality _and_ a headache. I stop my pitiful attempts at rolling over to just curl up a bit more, enjoying the shade from the light.

…

"Are you feeling okay, Michael?"

Ugh, _people_. _Why?_

"Go away." I flop my arm in the direction of the voice. Can't they see I'm trying to _sleep_?

It's silent for a moment before the person sighs and walks away.

Sadly, it brings back the _fucking light_.

"Wait, no," I call out to the person, hearing them stop. "Come back, please."

I can hear them walk back to me and see the light get covered by their shadow again. I curl up tighter and let out a sigh of comfort.

"Thanks," I tell the person before I go back to dealing with my headache.

…

"Okay, that's it."

I feel something collide with my gut and send me sprawling, my eyes flinging open and arms flailing. When everything stops spinning for a second, I turn to glare at the only other occupant in the area.

"The _hell_ Sakido, what was _that_ for?!" Sakido crosses her arms and pins me with a mild glare.

"I tried to resolve this peacefully. It didn't work, so I resorted to violence."

I just scowl at her and turn my back to her, frowning harder. My headache is now the opposite of better, thanks to Sakido's wake-up call, but at least my body is feeling like it's working. I put my hands up to my head, beginning to rub my temples to help subside the ache.

Yeesh, when and _how_ did I get this? There isn't any coffee in Hell – as far as I know – and I don't recall getting decked by a semi recently, so that exhausts all of the how's I know.

Speaking of, when _did_ I fall asleep? The last thing I recall is the visit/apology with Rhea and Buwaro turning into an oddly thrilling game of tag – with pain as a reward for getting caught. Anything farther just abruptly stops.

Hm...

Meh, I'll just ask Sakido. I turn around to see Sakido perched on the other side of the pillar.

"Hey Sakido, do you remember what happened yesterday?" My question must've been the wrong one, as Sakido whips around with a slightly bewildered look on her face.

"What do you mean? Are you telling me you don't remember yesterday _at all_?"

"No, I remember some of it, it just kinda... cuts off at a certain point," at this, I start to rub my head again. "And I have this _killer_ headache, to boot."

All I get from Sakido is a thoughtful look. After a few moments, she gets up from her perched position and moves to stand in front of me.

"What do you remember, Michael?"

"Well," I stand up, putting a hand to my chin. "I remember us going over to Rhea and Buwaro's area, you apologizing to them for what happened the day before, then we all got into a weird, painful version of tag. After that, it just... stops."

At that, Sakido takes another look at my face, a look of... hesitance?

Something's not right.

"Sakido, what happened yesterday?" Her face becomes slightly more guarded at my question. It's almost if...

 _Oh no._

"Did I hurt someone?" Sakido's eyes go wide, and she quickly raises her hands in a calming gesture.

"No! Nothing like that. If anything, it's the opposite. You got hurt, and badly."

I got hurt? I feel the side of my head, but besides the headache, nothing seems to be out of place. I look down at myself and see that nothing on my body seems to be harmed, other than the slight weakness in my muscles.

"Um, Sakido? Unless I'm missing something, I seem to be fairly okay." I give her a questioning look.

No really, something seems out of place, like I should be remembering what happened, but I just _can't_ , for some rea-

"Michael," at Sakido's soft tone, something that warrants attention, I face her fully. "You died, again."

…

"Oh."

 _Oh._ That's... a thing. That apparently happened. I almost forgot that people in Hell don't actually _die_ , although it doesn't stop them from getting killed. Point and case, myself.

"Um, how did I die. Again. Wow, this is going to get confusing." I mumble out, placing my hands to my face.

It takes a moment before Sakido speaks again.

"I don't really know _how_ you died, but I saw the aftermath. For the lack of a better term, you... exploded."

I _what_?

"What?" I repeat out loud.

"Where we found your body, it was nothing but a charred corpse. The area around you was scorched, but Rhea somehow managed to get outside of the blast range," at the mention of Rhea, I flinch slightly. Sakido must've seen this, because she elaborates. "She's fine, we only found her out of breath from casting a spell and running from us for so long. I was wondering if you remember what happened, so we can..."

"Stop further spontaneous combustions?" I finish with a tilt of my head. She nods, and I return to my thinking pose.

Well, now that the details have been laid out... I still got nothing. It's just that the very last thing that I remember is Rhea saying that she has an idea, veering us off towards a rock formation, then...

 _Wait._ I remember something. It's not something very coherent, but it feels...

"...warm." I whisper out.

"Warm?" Sakido parroted.

"Yeah. The last thing I recall is feeling warm. Comfortable, even," I look back up to Sakido. "Kinda like drinking something warm when it's cold out, or sitting around a campfire at night with friends. It's... nice."

I see Sakido's brows furrow for a second, before her eyes snap open and she takes a step back. Like I'm dangerous.

"Hey Michael, try to bring that feeling out again? I want to see something."

"Um, okay?" I give her one last concerned look, before I close my eyes to think.

I try to think back to that moment, yesterday. With my headache mostly gone, it's a bit easier to recall it. Now, where did I feel it? I remember it flooding my chest and throughout my body, but it's origin...

My back starts to ache, again.

 _My back!_ I remember the feeling of an everlasting comfort flood outwards from my back to the rest of my body. But on it's return trip...

I felt nothing but _fury_. Like someone set the world on fire, and the world was _pissed off_.

It _hurt_.

I shake my head of those thoughts and try to pull that warmth from where it came from – my back. I focused on the feeling of a toasty fire keeping the freezing dark away, and slowly – _very slowly_ – I feel that comforting heat start to spread through my body. It was like trying to move molasses, unlike the quick burn from my memories.

As the feeling slowly churns throughout, I am suddenly hit with a realization.

 _What if..._

I open my eyes and raise my hand in front of me. I can see Sakido in front of me, all of her attention on the motion.

I think back to Ma's lighter, how she always kept it on her, how she used it when we lost power to our house one night and had to light the fireplace. How she gave it one last flick in the hospital and showed it to me – when the nurses weren't looking – before giving it to me and telling me to keep it.

I put my thumb and middle finger together, pushing some of the warmth to my fingers. With my fingers filled with a comforting heat, I snapped my fingers.

 _Fwish._

I blinked. Twice.

In the cradle of my thumb and the crook of my index finger – usually where Ma's lighter is held – is a small flame. It looks just like the one from Ma's lighter, small and innocent. It waves slightly, dancing in the palm of my hand. The heat emanating from it is just as comforting as the warmth that is still flowing through my hand.

"This is magic, isn't it?" I ask aloud, voice filled with awe. The warmth from my hand recedes back into my core, the little light wavering out of existence with nary a sound.

"Yes, your magical element is fire," Sakido supplies me, looking up from the banished flame to my face. "And you have a _lot_ of it."

"What exactly is 'a lot'?" I start kneading the warmth in my body as if it was nothing more than thick bread dough. It's... oddly fun. Probably dangerous, but still fun.

"Well, to give you a reminder, the first time you used it you blew both a boulder _and_ yourself to pieces." Sakido accompanied that with a deadpan.

Oh. Right. _Wait a minute._

"I blew up _a boulder_?" I dropped my jaw in surprise. I looked at my hands at Sakido's nod.

"Hehehe, I'm going to have _way_ too much fun with this," Sakido promptly smacked me upside my head. "Ow! Relax, I wasn't _really_ going to." I crossed my arms with a huff.

"You should be more careful when you use your magic. What if you exploded again?"

… right. Wouldn't want to have anyone get hurt by my ability to spontaneously combust.

… that sounds weird, even in context.

I wonder how Rhea and Buwaro are right no-

"Wait, how're Rhea and Buwaro holding up to me... well..." I gesture to myself as a way of explaining.

"Last I left them, they're at where you died." Sakido offhandedly says, looking off to the side in thought.

"Wait, you _left them_?!" I yell out in shock, Sakido jumping slightly. "We gotta see them, _now_."

"Why should we do that?" Sakido drawls out to me.

I look at Sakido incredulously. She was being compliant just yesterday, now I got the Sakido that's from the comics; fulfilling her social quota and not wanting any more.

Doesn't mean I won't try to convince her.

"Because I _fucking died_ , and we should check up on them after _seeing_ that."

Sakido levels a deadpan at me. "And that matter _how_ , exactly?"

I let out a groan and flop onto my back, frustrated. Sakido just walks over to her bonsai and starts to tend to it.

I have to find out a way to see how Rhea and Buwaro are holding up, but I don't know the way to them on foot. Seeing how Sakido is suddenly less of a saint today, and I don't exactly have a way to fly, myself, I'm stuck here.

…

Suddenly, an idea hits me.

A dangerous, stupid, _terrifying_ idea, but one that might work.

 _Alright, Sakido. If you won't cooperate with me, then I just have to make you._

I slowly stand up and walk over to Sakido, who's still making a few touches to her bonsai. I go up behind her and tap one of her wings. She freezes for a second before slowly turning around, a small pair of trimmers in her hand and a death glare in her eyes.

"What do you want?" Sakido _growls_ out, barring her teeth.

I just look at her for a few seconds, studying her face. Her eyes are glowing slightly, showing her agitation. She narrows her eyes more, her face starting to become contorted in annoyance. She gives out another growl before she starts to turn around, but before she turns around fully, I speak up.

"Sakido," she stops and looks back to me, brow quirked at how quiet my voice is. "I trust you."

My back starts to heat up, warming my core.

Sakido's brow furrows in confusion. "Um, Michael-"

I don't let her finish and run to my left, towards the edge. I push as hard as I can off the ledge, shoving as much of the magical heat as I can down my leg and into my foot. The resulting blast launches me off and into the air, wind gusting past my face.

This feels nice. For a moment, I felt weightless, as if I was flying. Free as a bird.

I start to fall, and I look back down to see Sakido with her jaw to the floor. As I fall past the top of the pillar, I wave at her, shooting past the ledge.

 _Your move, Sakido._

I close my eyes and just feel the wind blow past my head, ignoring the alarm in my head that what I was doing is _absolutely_ ** _insane_** , and that I was going to die. For the third time, too.

 _I trust you to catch me._

I open my eyes and twist my head to look at the top of the pillar. I see a shadow of something with wings jump off it and start to plummet towards me.

I smiled a small, crooked smile.

 _After all..._

I see Sakido catching up to me, slowly but surely.

 _When it's time for you to trip and fall..._

I reach out a hand at the same time Sakido does, both of them getting ever closer.

 _I'll be there..._

Our hands clap, Sakido pulling me to her.

 _And I'll catch you._

Sakido spreads her wings, catching the wind and slowing us down as she angles herself to take less drag. After a while, she balances out, then looks down to me with a glare.

"You're an idiot." She bluntly tells me.

"But it worked." I respond, crooked smile still on my face.

Sakido falters slight in her flight, but quickly fixes herself and levels me with an incredulous look. "You launched yourself off a cliff – _with_ a half-ass spell, mind you – just on the off-chance that I will catch you, then take you to the others?"

"Yup."

She looks at me for a few more seconds before she looks forward, changing course towards what I'm assuming is Rhea and Buwaro's place.

"You're still an idiot." I hear Sakido grumble.

As I look ahead, my back both burns comfortably and aches painfully.

* * *

This time, Sakido flies straight for wherever Rhea and Buwaro's place is in stead of landing near the Styx and hiking it, thankfully. While we are flying there, however, I see a flash of yellow and blue stick out from the dark browns of the stone.

"Hey, I think I see Rhea," I point down to the spot. Sakido looks down and notices too, curving down to land near Rhea.

As we land, Rhea turns towards us and jumps off the rock she was sitting on, running to us.

"Hiya, Rhea." I tell her as she reaches us. She stops dead when she sees me, gaping as she stares at me.

It's silent as she just stands there and stares at me. I shuffle in place slightly.

"Um, you okay, Rhea?" Talking to her pulled her out of her stare. She turns said stare into a glare and puts her hands on her hips, tail thrashing behind her.

"So, you're alive, huh?" She puts up a hand when I open my mouth. "Don't. Not yet," I clamp my mouth closed as she continues. "I just want you to know that I've thought over what I was going to say if I saw you again. And first I'm going to say sorry."

… what? Last I checked, I exploded, it's not like she was the cause of it, or anything.

"Um-"

" _Not_. _Yet_." Rhea growls out. I snap my jaw closed again.

Rhea sighed. "If it wasn't for me coming up with that _stupid_ plan, you wouldn't have to deal with dying, again."

… that happened?

Oblivious of my inner confusion, Rhea continues. "And I would also to say thanks, for saving me another death. Not sure _why_ , but you did decided to save my ungrateful ass-"

Okay, that's enough.

"I'm gonna stop you there." I deadpan. Rhea stops and glares at me.

" _No_ , I'm going to say 'thank you', then you're going to say 'you're welcome', _then_ we're going to go deal with Buwaro and his depressed ass." Rhea bites out.

"And what _I'm_ gonna do is say that you don't need to say that," I begin to frown. "I ended up exploding in front of you, probably traumatizing you and Buwaro for no good reason, and ended up wasting your time on me, so don't get me started on needing to say 'I'm sorry', because it's my fault, _not yours,_ snake eyes." I grit out with a glare of my own.

As soon as I finished with the nickname, Rhea's glare falters and she looks off to the side. "But you know what," I continue in a softer tone, bringing Rhea's amber gaze back to me. "How about we let bygones be bygones. We got plenty of other things to be depressed about, seeing that we're in Hell now, yeah?" I hold my hand out for a handshake.

Rhea takes a quick look at my hand before she takes a longer one at my eyes. She holds contact for a while before she gives a small, normal smile and shakes my hand.

"Alright, hotshot, whatever you say."

… did she just make a pun out of me exploding?

I hear Sakido groaning behind me, so I'm assuming it's one.

Doesn't stop me from smiling, though.

" **Aww, you two are getting along, how _sweet_!**" A dark, ominous voice coos from the side _right next to me_ -

I turn to see a flaming skull with one eye in a black, tattered cloak.

"Oh, hi Death, it's been a while." I greet as Rhea squeaks – _she squeaked holy_ ** _shit_** _that's adorable_ – and squeezes my hand.

… wait, why is Death here?

" **Salutations, Michael, Rhea, Sakido. Where is Buwaro?** "

Rhea recovers from her scare and speaks up, "Oh, Buwaro is off rearranging his rock collection. He apparently made that mountain to show off before I arrived. It's cute, in a moronic kinda way."

I couldn't help myself. "Says the one who _squeaked_ when you got scared."

Rhea whips her head towards me, her face going from horror to rage in a second. Before she does anything, though, Death pinches her cheek and coos.

" **Aww, how adorable! You two are becoming such good friends!** "

I start to laugh as Buwaro finally shows up, holding a rock.

"Hi, Death!" Buwaro waves wildly as he runs the last bit of distance to us.

" **Hello, Buwaro! Are you well?** " Death lets go of Rhea to wave back, releasing her from his torment.

As Buwaro proceeds to shove a rock into Death's face, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look up to see Sakido pointing to something in front of me. I follow where her finger is pointing to to see Rhea and I's handshake.

… still clasped.

 _Oh._ I try to remove my hand, but Rhea's grip from getting scared earlier is keeping my hand trapped in hers.

This is a... _problem_.

"Um, Rhea," Rhea stops rubbing her face to look up at me. "Can you let go?"

Rhea tilts her head and looks down to our hands. I see her face turn beet red before she lets go of my hand like she touched a hot coal, or something. I take my abused hand and rub it for a bit.

… huh, didn't know I could see blushes on a jakkai.

 _Wait a secon_ -

Before I can finish that thought, a huge, luminous white light falls over the area. When I turn into the direction of where it's coming from, I have to squint from how bright the light is. When my eyes adjust, however, they proceed to widen back up.

In the distance, there is a giant pillar of white light, casting the area in an ethereal white glow. I can feel my eyes start to water, and it's not because of how bright the light is. It's... beautiful.

" **Wh-Wha... what is that?!** " Death exclaims.

Rhea is the first to speak up. "Eh? You mean that isn't normal? I've already seen it at least once since I came here-"

Death cuts her off, striding forwards. " **It is most definitely _not_ normal, and I am going to find out exactly what it really is.**" He stops for a second and turns around. " **I am going to have to ask you, Sakido, to not follow. You too, Michael.** " Death then continues onward, Buwaro and Rhea trailing behind him.

Both Sakido and I are left standing here, as Death marches onward towards the Gate of Hell.

Oh. That's why Death showing up seemed familiar. When he arrives, he's going to be denied entry, then threatened by killing... killing...

I look up to Sakido. They threaten to kill _her_. In the story, Sakido stays safe from any actions that might've been taken against her. Hell, she managed to incapacitate _Cerberus_ when she pulls off a jail-break of celestial proportions.

The only thing that managed to kill her was a holy arrow on the final stretch to the ascension ritual, and even then she succeeded.

 _Wait._ Holy arrow in Hell?

Oh, _fuck_. I forgot about some sketchy angels hanging out in Hell proper. That's going to bite everyone in the ass later on.

"What's wrong?" I'm pulled out of my thoughts to see Sakido looking at me, a slightly frustrated look on her face. I raise an eyebrow in return.

"I should be asking _you_ that. You look almost disappointed that you couldn't go," I joke lightly. From the look on Sakido's face, it wasn't a great idea.

" _Shut it_ ," She growls out. "I'm still not over you trying to kill yourself to get me to come here."

"Well, it worked. Besides, I kinda needed you, anyways; I only partially know the way here, and it's from a bird's eye view."

"... still doesn't change the fact that you tricked me." She grumbles out.

I smiled slightly. "Still doesn't change that I trusted you to catch me."

She doesn't respond, still glaring at me with her arms crossed. She eventually lets out a huff before turning away.

A few minutes pass before boredom begins to set in.

I let out a groan. "They're sure taking their time with their 'serious' investigation."

"It's only been a short time; be patient."

"..."

"..."

"So what do you think that light is? Doesn't exactly look like it belongs here, does it?" I look up to the light, still as bright as it was a few minutes ago.

"I do not know," Sakido replies from my side. "I haven't been inside the walls of Hell for years, so I can't tell you."

She _has_ to be bullshitting, how else would she know to use it to allow Buwaro and Rhea to escape Hell?

I won't push her on the subject, though. I already know all I need to know.

I see the pillar of light begin to fade, the white light washing over the outer ring beginning to dissipate into whatever lights up Hell in the first place. The last streams of the ascension beam fades into nothing, the surrounding returning to their original, bleak color scheme.

I reach up to my face when I notice it feeling clammy, my hand confirming that I had been, somehow, crying the entire time. I look over to Sakido to see if the same happened to her, but she's facing away from me. I wonder...

"Did you feel anything... strange, when you were looking at it?"

Does she also cry when she looks at it? Or does her demonic nature keep her from feeling... whatever it was that I felt. It did feel nice, despite the waterworks. It would suck if it was painful for her-

Oh _shit_ -

Before I go down that lane of thinking, Sakido speaks up.

"It feels... nice. Like I have something to work for. A goal that is within reach." Sakido looks back up to where the beam of light disappeared from.

I blinked. She feels...

"Hopeful." I finish aloud, voice barely a whisper.

Sakido looks back over to me and – whoa, she _was_ crying, if the wet marks down her face is an indicator. She just looks at me, a jumble of emotions rolling on her face before settling on a sigh.

"Yeah. Hopeful."

We stay quiet again, this time waiting for the others to get back. Even though I know that they'll be fine, it doesn't help much.

* * *

A decent amount of time passes by before we see the trio return. Before they enter the clearing, Death scoops up Rhea and Buwaro into a bear hug, squeezing the life out of them.

Sakido and I share a look of disbelief before walking up to the three.

" **I love you two!** " Death _squees_ while crushing the two captives. Rhea looks up from her torture and raises a hand in our direction.

" _Help me._ " She manages to gasp out, despite the death grip – ha – she's in.

Well, I _could_ help her, but yet again, it takes a _long_ time for her, along with a death of a certain _someone_ , for her to learn to cool it.

Ah, to Hell with it; we're already here and I could use a good laugh from the depressing thoughts from earlier.

I put a hand to my chin in mock thought. "Hm, to help or not to help; that is the question. Right, _shortstop_?" I drawl out, trying my hardest to not smirk. I end up doing it, anyways, at Rhea making a strangled noise _on top of_ her already strangled noises.

Death must've met his quota on hugs, because he then unceremoniously drops the two to the ground, both of them breathing in like their lives depend on it. Well, for one of them it does, the other would come back tomorrow.

Rhea looks up from her spot on the ground to glare at me.

"I... _hate_... you..." She gasps out, her breathing labored.

"Love ya too, snake eyes." My smirk morphs into a shit-eating grin.

Her eyes widen for a split second, then narrows into slits from the power of her glare. Before she starts to throw fists, however, Death intervenes.

" **I am sorry to say this after just arriving, you four, but I must take my leave. Need to make sure that I do my job, and all of that.** " Death waves a skeletal hand before departing post-haste.

My back burns quietly, flickering as he goes.

Well. That was sudden. I guess he was hurt pretty bad by Cerberus' reminder of the deal they made. It would probably drive me crazy, to have to do nothing to help the people you care about, despite having the ability to help, all because they will die if you interfere.

 _Sounds familiar, huh Michael?_

I shake my head to rid those thoughts. What I'm trying to do is _nowhere_ near as heart-breaking as what Darius went through. Besides, he had to deal with it for almost fifteen _years_.

My problems can wait, anyways. I have things to do, in the meantime.

Like _Buwaro is in my face again_ _ **holy shit**_ -

"Are you okay, Michael?" Buwaro furrows his brows slightly.

I take a step back before answering him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried why _Death_ , of all people, seemed worried." I lean my head in the direction of where said person went.

I hear Sakido clear her throat. "While it was nice to see you two again, I still need to give Michael here the tour of the ring."

"Oh, right. Exploding randomly tends to put a hold on things." I joke out. Sakido snorts in agreement and Buwaro snickers quietly at it, but Rhea is suspiciously quiet. I look down to her to see her giving me a look.

"What?" I ask her. It wasn't _that_ bad of a joke, was it? The others had a small laugh out of it.

"It's... nothing. Just nothing." She grouches, crossing her arms and walking off to a rock, presumably to sit on. "C'mon Buwaro, they need to go."

Um. That's... _different_. Just a second ago, Rhea was close to swinging, now she's all broody. I _think_ she was like this, back in the comics, but honestly, trying to remember eight hundred-plus pages is _not_ easy. Hopefully, I didn't miss something important that could be resolved easily and quickly.

I look over to Sakido. "Well, how about that tour you promised me?"

* * *

"I hate you right now."

"Shut up, it wasn't _that_ bad."

"And all of that extra maneuvers while carrying me was necessary _how_?!"

"They were performed expertly, relax. Besides, I thought you trusted me."

I raise a finger, a retort on the tip of my tongue, before pausing. She _does_ have a point. I did kinda-sorta threw myself off the pillar, hoping that she would catch me, and she _did_ , so I can't really say much to that.

I put my hand back down and let out a frustrated sigh, sitting near the edge of Sakido's pillar. "You're still the worst." I grumble out.

Sakido barks out a laugh. "Ha! I'll stop whenever you decide to stop being so childish about nothing."

Damn, she got me there.

Sakido moves over to her bonsai and takes the small clippers next to it, trimming the miniature tree. I rotate myself so that my legs hand over the ledge.

My back continues to ache, gradually going into cramping territory.

Ever since Sakido took me onto the tour of the ring, my back had started to ache more and more. Speaking of it, it always seem to ache when someone is in a spot where they seemed... disturbed? Troubled? Whatever, it seems to be a sort of warning, like an animal instinct of a coming storm.

Although it seemed to be stating the obvious for the past couple of days, now it just aches for no good reason. It's getting to the point of being _really_ annoying and agonizing is not far behin-

" _ **GRRRROOOAAAAAAAAARRR**_ "

 _… what the hell?_

The actual hell was that? I don't remember Iratu coming back, if he hadn't already left at the last ascension ritual-

 _Buwaro. Rhea taking his star amulet in an innocent game of keep away. Buwaro ripping Rhea_ _ **to shreds and killing himself**_ -

"Oh _fuck_."

"What?" I look over to Sakido at her question. "Do you know what that was?"

"S-Sakido," at my stutter, she furrows her brow in confusion. "We need go to Rhea and Buwaro. _Now._ "

Sakido takes my words in for all of a second before her eyes widen.

"Buwaro." She breathes out. I nod grimly.

I forgot about this part, and now I'm too late.

 _Rhea's dead again, and I couldn't stop it._

* * *

 **A/N: And that right there, my friends, is a cliffhanger. Guess you have to wait until I make the next chapter to see how Michael fairs against a rampaging demon. Heh.**

 **Oh, before I forget,** _ **I just got my first review**_ **. Albeit from a guest, so I can't properly say** _ **who**_ **, but a review nonetheless. So, to that one anon, thanks, and here is my response, so others can ignore it if you just want my cliché end card.**

 **Guest** **: Thanks for the compliment, but the first part I don't understand what you're trying to get across. As for your suggestion, it's a good idea to have when the plot moves the group to the surface; there is a** _ **lot**_ **of downtime used for traveling from town to town, so I'll keep it in mind when shenanigans must be had. I hope the comedy material is good. I try, but I only have myself to defer all humor to, and I laugh** _ **way**_ **too easily. See ya, anon guest.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and hope you have a good one. Or something.**

 **Edit 2/11/17:** **I am going to take a small break from this so that I will not burn myself out too quickly. This _doesn't_ say that I'll stop writing; I'll just keep this on the back burner while I try and write another story. And yes; I'm going to be writing another story so that I can 'keep the creative juices flowing', or something of the sorts. So expect a longer time before the next chapter than usual. And possibly another story _hint hint shameless plug-in_.**


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